


Empathetic

by Fanficanatic



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: :3, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bottom Nico, Fluff, M/M, Master/Slave, Multi, Smut, Top Jason Grace, Top Percy, mentions of abuse, no more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:43:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5814694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanficanatic/pseuds/Fanficanatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I can’t remember how long I have been a slave, nor how old I am. My personal records can tell you that. I don’t even know my original name anymore. Having a name is too much work when there are more important things to remember like how He likes his coffee or the correct way to pleasure Him. The only information I can give to you is that I can still feel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heartfelt Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnimeBooks_684](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeBooks_684/gifts).



> Welcome to Make Me Sure Of It, my brand spanking new story! This story is a good old slave story, prompt given by AnimeBooks_684. This one is for you! Also, I need for a new beta reader for my stories, possibly someone who has some experience with beta-reading and a Tumblr. Comment down below, kudos are appreciated, and let's go!
> 
> EDIT: Changed name to Empathetic because it goes better with the theme of the story.

**??? P.O.V**

I can’t remember how long I have been a slave, nor how old I am. My personal records can tell you that. I don’t even know my original name anymore. Having a name is too much work when there are more important things to remember like how He likes his coffee or the correct way to pleasure Him. The only information I can give to you is that I can still feel. I feel lots of things; sadness, fear, depression, hunger, happiness (once in a blue moon), but mostly, empathy. Empathy gives me more perception on what I can do to make my Master’s day better, by not being in their sight or by giving myself up to them. This trait would make me an excellent slave to keep if I wasn’t so sarcastic and moody. My entire memorable life, I have had 3 Masters, all horrible in their own nature. Beatings get worse each time there is a new Master, like a new level of Hell has opened up for me. The beatings then turned creative and sadistic, like with my current Master, Octavian.

Octavian is a special type of Master. He doesn’t enjoy sex, and makes sure that I am underfed, unlike most people that enjoy healthy slaves. He is a skinny blonde man with almost no definition of muscle, yet is able to put me down harder than any other I have been owned by. His trick is that he uses words instead of fists, and time outs instead of kicks to the face. His time outs aren’t your little kiddy time outs either, where you stand in the corner and wait 10 minutes. In his twisted version, he sends me off to a dark room, all alone. No sight, no scent, but there is sound. That sound is him speaking. He speaks through a speaker that reverberates around the room telling me how I am so much better off without a real family, how worthless I am without a good Master to punish me, all of these terrible things, over and over. I can’t even comprehend most of the things going on because I usually end up sobbing loudly, but I get through fine afterwards. After that, he gives me some food to eat that I like, but that’s only because he thinks I hate it. I just had a session like that an hour ago, and I am munching on some sunflower seeds and water. I chew on the seeds slowly, savoring the taste, then throw the seeds in a corner in my “room”.

My room is essentially a small bed and lamp, all covered in protective wrap so I wouldn’t try and make a weapon out of them. My room connects to Octavian’s, who has a whole bunch of knickknacks and items of wealth. He comes from a rich background, which explains how he can have a room just dedicated to torturing me. His arrogance about his wealth and his greed for more money put him even more over the top eccentric bastard cliche, but I have to deal with it unless I want a whip with my name all over it (literally).

From the other room, Octavian releases a whoop of joy and comes running across to my room. He opens my door while I sit there, counting how many fingers I have for the 20th time. He has a crazy look in his dull blue eyes and his hair has the look you get when a giant pillow full of down feathers smacks you upside the head. He resembles a deranged chicken on drugs, but I make no vocal commentary on it.

“Bitch, do you know what I just did for us?” Octavian was apparently happy, as he just called me by his favorite pet name.

Since I had no name and none of my past Masters have ever had the creative mindset to even give me a proper name, they all just called me whatever they pleased. First owner my name was “Slut”, second was “Cunthead” (personal favorite because deep down I knew it was extremely stupid), and lastly “Bitch” by Octavian.

“No sir,’ I responded automatically, knowing ‘us’ meant his own self gain, ‘what did you do?”

“If you would fucking let me explain before responding, I would get to that part.” Octavian muttered nastily under his breath. “I just sold you.”

I just nodded, dumbfounded and scared at the prospect of another owner in a short amount of time. I thought back to all the times with Octavian, the past 9 months with him and thought of why I was being sold. Was it because I decided to put laxatives in his tomato puree 3 months ago and he just deduced the fact? Or was it the time I broke into his room and destroyed 2 video game controllers because of that Mario Maker level (sometimes I sneak into his room and play some games while he is on a road trip. I got 3 days in time out and 4 hours hung upside down by a rope for that little incident)? Maybe I had done a cumulative amount of shit that just decided that I was ready to go? Whatever it was, I thanked the gods up above for separating me from this nutcase.

“Who is my new master, Sir?” _Will they be at least less crazy than your unstable ass?_ Nico pondered curiously.

“Your new Master will be all the way in California, so we have to travel there by the 17th of March. He is paying BIG dollars for you to be shipped personally by me.” Octavian’s breathing got a little faster and his Scottish accent came back a little from being too excited. I should have guessed it was so he could get some more money. “So get your stupid ass back to whatever you were doing, the 17th is in one week. We still have time to say goodbye.” It sent chills down my spine when he mentioned ‘goodbye’ in that smiling creepy voice. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess his idea of a final send-off was making sure I was properly trained to be a great slave and full on fucking me up. I never have had him beat me this badly in a total of 5 days and by the end of it I had tear tracks etched onto my face rivaling the ones of Isaac from The Binding of Isaac and new scar marks that might not fade for a while. I packed up my bags and we left his home for the last time. I would miss nothing of this place, even if it looked like Olympus from the few books Octavian gave me to read. His house was spectacular and grand with giant gray pillars and fire pits lining the sides of the mansion, but reminded me more of a place of despair from my experiences. _Ciao._

After we left, he drove us to the airport, which would take us from Bangor International to SFO. I had never been on a plane, but I had been through worse than being in the air 30,000 feet from death, so that gives me much more relief. The flight was ten hours, and I got more sleep on that flight than any other time with one of my Master’s. Another new thing that Octavian gave me were new clothes. Every few weeks, Octavian would give me one new pair of pants and a shirt because he would have ripped and decimated the last because of my punishments. This time, he gave me two t-shirts and two jeans, plus one pair of black socks. I feel guilty because I know I don’t really deserve this much stuff, but it’s okay. It’s just so that I can fit in with the regular world.

We landed in SFO and got off the plane. Octavian had called an Uber in advance to take us to our destination in Lafayette, which was actually kind of far from San Francisco. I had been excited to visit San Francisco and all of its glory, but I guess I didn’t need to visit it. The ride was pretty quiet and uneventful, except for when we passed this tunnel called the Caldecott Tunnel and I got shivers down my spine. We continued down the 24 until we drove over to a nice neighborhood with apartment complexes. These apartment complexes had palm trees all over the pavilion and gray concrete paved nicely over the surrounding area. Octavian payed our driver and we walked to the building. The buildings looked pretty nice, considering they were over 6 stories tall and the top floor was entirely glass windowed. The walls had a grayish-blue tint and white doors that gave off a vibe that people who were young lived here.

As soon as we strolled in, Octavian went to the counter and asked the receptionist which floor whoever I was to be sold to was on. As he did that, I looked around and saw a big blue couch with light gray pillows next to a coffee table, a flat screen HD tv, some computers monitors to look up stuff for free, security cameras that followed my every movement, and a water cooler ( _they still have those?_ ). The receptionist was a pretty lady who had long black hair and brown eyes, like me except she is beautiful. Her nametag read Mellie and she was on the phone with whoever was upstairs about to take me as their own. After a few seconds, she let us with a smile. 

“Have a good one, you guys. It was nice meeting you.” She smiled softly in my direction and I hurriedly rushed off, not used to such a kind looking person.

Octavian and I got to the elevator with my stuff and he pressed the 4th floor button. The elevator wooshed swiftly up and stopped after only a few seconds. I got my stuff and we walked down the hallway in front of us to a door a few feet ahead. It looked like there was only 4 apartments on this floor, with each apartment door having a different shade of wood. The door we stopped in front of was of a light brown shade and had a door peeker, with a lightning bolt symbol and a horse etched into the room number plaque 402. Octavian turned to me before he opened the door.

“Do not, I repeat, do NOT fuck this deal up, alright?”

I saluted to him mockingly. “Aye aye, captain.”

He whacked me upside the head with his hand hard and I let out a whimper of pain. Guess I couldn’t be joking around now. He knocked three times and the door opened up after his third knock. A dark haired man opened the door frantically and smiled widely at the both of us.

“I guess you must be Octavian and… hmm, I never got to know your name. Ahh, I’ll find out later. Come in, I’m Percy.”

He moved his body so we could walk through and look at the apartment in its entirety. The foyer was a simple tiled floor with tons of shoes strewn across the floor. As we entered the living room, I saw how big Percy’s apartment was. It had a giant expansive area with hard wooden floors and huge windows covered in curtains. The walls were painted a ochre shade of brown and covered with posters of Warriors and Knicks banners and cool art canvases of sunsets, cities, and random ocean waves. There was a couch in the corner of the room that looked like it had a recliner function and a giant TV screen on top of a video game/movie shelf. There were multiple systems there that I didn’t recognize, but Percy did have a Wii U, which was the only one I had ever played on. Across the room from the couch and TV was a big dinner table with a vase of flowers and a scented candle lit, which smelled of pumpkin cookies. On the other wall of the room, there was a guitar and sound system plugged in, both looking pretty worn but probably still working. Above that was a sword colle- wait, a sword collection? Multiple swords hung from the wall, ranging from katanas to medieval longsword to dagger to butterfly knife. In the middle of all of it, a giant shield was hung up in all of its glory, depicting a ferocious battle on its front. It was terrifying and badass to look at the same time. There was another hallway down at the other wall, and a door connecting to possibly a kitchen near the weapons. 

“If you want, I could maybe give you both somewhere to sit.” Percy complied happily.

He pulled three chairs out of the dining table to give to them, but Octavian stopped him after the second.

“That’s enough, thank you.”

Percy was puzzled. “ But what about-.” 

“What about whom? Him?’ He pointed at me. ‘He can sit on the floor. He doesn’t need a chair.” I flopped down obediently on the floor, trying to prove I am good for Octavian until he leaves. I do not want to stay with him at ALL.

Percy frowned, but gave in nonetheless. He put the third chair back and sat down. Octavian sat down with him and began to discuss all of the information with Percy. I sat there and dawdled, playing with my thumbs and occasionally pulling my feet to my chest and sighing. I must have looked like a nutcase to Percy, as he looked over Octavian several times to stare at me. I always made eye contact, as not making eye contact was rude with a Master. After an hour, Octavian and Percy shook hands, exchanged a check, and Octavian stood up.

“Thanks for doing business with me, I enjoy the money you gave me just for this… thing.”

“You too, I think my friend will enjoy our new companion as well.” Octavian looked displeased at how Percy smiled at the word companion, as if he just cursed out his mother or whatever shithole Octavian crawled out of. Wait a second… nooooooooo.

Did he really just say friend? Octavian just sold me to not one man, but two? This deal just went from okay to worse. I did not want to be manhandled by one man, let alone two in the same apartment. I curled up once again in fetal position and mumbled gibberish to myself. Octavian looked back at me and smiled.  
“Goodbye, bitch. Have fun here.” Octavian left out the front door, leaving me and Percy alone in the room. 

Percy and I looked at each other in the eyes for one second and Percy quickly averted a glance. I started to tear up, thinking about how I already fucked up and how ugly I was to be looked away from in a second. Percy just stood there, staring at me with a unknowing expression.

“Well, do you want me to show you your room? Usually I would want until Jason gets back, but he has some more work to do back in San Francisco.” I nodded timidly and stood up, ready to be punished in my new room. As per tradition my old Masters, I would usually get beat or fucked in my new room. I walked slowly down the wooden floored hallway with Percy and we stopped second door to the left. As I stood next to Percy, I noticed how short I was, being more than half a head shorter than him. He was also more muscular than me, which meant he could hold me down better and fuck me harder or beat me if he pleased. I could only imagine what the other guy looked like when Percy interrupted my little inner spiel.

“Okay, this is your room. My room is across the hall and Jason’s is right next door. Don’t worry about making a lot of sound, as we had our rooms soundproofed ever since Wise Girl next door threatened to choke me out with her blueprints wires if I ever played “Warriors” by Imagine Dragons that loud again.” He looked at me as if I understood what Imagine Dragons was or who Wise Girl was supposed to be. I just nodded at a regular speed, as not to be seen as slow. Percy smiled brightly and led me inside. 

The room was basic, but way bigger and better than my old one. It had a couch, a closet, a window with curtains, a BED OH MY GOD A BED. It was in the way corner and had a nightstand next to it. There was also a desktop computer in there, on top of a desk. It looked top notch considering the harddrive was huge and the specs made it look really futuristic. There was a mirror attached to the closet, and I could see a tall muscular guy standing next to pitiful self in the reflection. The room could fit three of my old rooms at Octavian’s easily. I cautiously walked in and Percy came in with me. 

“I’ll be in my room doing some work, okay? By the way, what’s your name? I never heard it from you or that douche Octavian.”

“Ummm,’ My throat was raspy from not talking for so long, ‘I don’t have a name.”

Percy was shocked for a moment, then had a sudden determined face. “You never had a name? Would you like me to name you?” 

“Yes, sir.” I was told not to say no to my old owner, so my first name would be whatever he decided.

“Okay, let’s see. What to name, what to name… it has to be a practical name, so no Bob or Joe. It also has to match your looks, and your personality. What about Asher? It means luck and is a pretty cool name.” I was just about to answer yes when he suddenly changed his mind. “ No, it should match your character. How would you describe your life in one word, dude?” It took me a while to figure out he was directing the question at me.

“Oh, um… unvictorious?” Percy frowned at that then had an epiphany. 

“I got it! In your file that the douche gave me, it said you were Italian, so I’ll call you Nico. My friend taking Italian told me the other week Nico meant victory in Italian. Another coincidence, I had a cat named Nico once, and you remind me of him too.” Percy looked so pleased with himself.

The name kept rolling around in my head. _Nico. Nicooo. Niiico. Nico. Hmm, that sounds nice._

“Yes, sir.” 

“Okay great! Now get some sleep, it’s already 9 PM and I need to work. See you later, Nico!” Percy shut the door and left me to my own devices.

I was left in the middle of my room, pondering how I was able to get off without any punishment. I decided not to look into it, and went over to my new bed. My new bed. It sounded weird in my head, but I still grinned anyway. I fell into my new bed and almost instantly wandered off to a dreamless sleep.


	2. Needs And Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am here, once again! *everyone claps wildly, random pleb throws shoe in my direction* OW!
> 
> Finally, a brand new chapter! I decided to start my schedule one day earlier than planned because I am super excited for some odd reason :/ It has been almost ONE MONTH since I updated this story, but it is all good. I have finally overcome my laziness to procure you all a new chapter! This one involves the introduction to everyone's favorite Golden Boy, JASON GRACE!! (how I love him so...)
> 
> Also, I have gotten a new beta reader, by the name of... *drums pounding rapidly* [ MELLANINQUEEN!](http://mellaninqueen.tumblr.com/) She is an awesome beta reader, with lots of comments, and I mean _lots_. Thank her for proofreading this :D
> 
> Enjoy the story! Kudos and comments on how to make this numero uno accepted!

**Jason’s P.O.V**

Coming home from work was hard already. Driving in the dark is not easy, especially when the Bay has all this goddamn rain pouring down. Stupid El Niño and its lousy weather pattern. California may need the rain, but I do not have to enjoy it personally. I finally got back to my apartment completely soaked in God’s tears as I rushed inside, greeted Mellie, and ran to the elevator. The elevator opened and I ran inside, pushing my floor button and proceeded to slid down the wall into a bent over position.

I don’t even know why I am tired, seeing that I only watched over some people in my office, albeit Lou-Ellen. Lou-Ellen at least had the courtesy to tell me a week in advance that she and her new fling would be gone, so I did some of her paperwork to pass the time. It was actually needed, seeing as she _had_ been finished with her original workload, but we had gotten another call in from our manufacturer saying that they started the order set about 3 days in advance. Our manufacturer had been picking up the pace lately, so while Lou-Ellen gets dicked, I’m getting fucked over with hand cramps and a sore back (my comfy chair was unusually stiff today). I swear, I just wanna go home and eat a sandwich, not even fuck Perce, I’m that tired.

I opened the door to my apartment and noticed Percy had laid out a nice little feast for me to eat on the dining table. My mouth watered when I saw what it was: a ribeye steak and a hand tossed salad from the expensive steak house laid out in front of me on the _good china._

“PERCY, I SWEAR, WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE THIS TIME?”

I could only imagine the shit Percy had caused when I rushed into his room. He was sitting on his bed, earbuds in and staring profusely at the computer typing away quickly. I came over and slapped his computer to the side. Percy looked up at me and stared at me as if I had slapped his newborn child.

“What happened?” I said as calmly as I could with his computer dangling from the earbud cord.

“Oh hello, Jason. I’m fine, just great. I’m just typing a report on Physical Oceanography, want a lookie here?” Percy was exuding sass from his pores, just covering me in his sarcasm.

“Don’t give me that crap, what have you done, mister?”

“Shit, when did you turn all “no nonsense angry person from the 50’s” cliche? You sound so John Doe-y right now. And, I still don’t see why my computer deserved all the abuse it got from you. I should call social services.” Percy started to reel back in his laptop with his earbud cord, and returned it back to his lap.

“I just want to know why there is good steak out on the table _with the good china_.” I knew I had him there when he visibly stiffened and suddenly relaxed afterwards.

“...Well, the good china was the only clean dish out there.”

“Bull, we cleaned all the plates last night after you made that god-awful fish. By the way, that was way too many plates you used.” I could see him scowl visibly at that remark.

“Shut up, that pork was at least cooked all the way through. Uhh, well, I.. um.. eh… I was watching the Knicks game and grabbed the wrong plate?”

“One, we have a separate cupboard for the china away from the plates, and two, your Knicks game is on Saturday, and today is Thursday, hmm… I think I’ll call bullshit now, what is your verdict, bro?” I mockingly used ‘bro’ when I know I have won.

Percy slumped down and held his head in his hand. “I fucked up dude, I don’t know why I did it, but I fucked up.”

I smirked as a memory surfaced of Percy fucking up pretty badly. “Well, is it worse than when you trying to do a headstand on top of that fountain for Annabeth in San Francisco and ended up going to the hospital with a compressed neck fracture?”

“Yes.” Shit, this must be bad.

“What happened?” Percy gulped and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “bought” and “felt bad.”

“Percy, I heard you say ‘bought’ and ‘felt bad,’ so fess up. Did you buy another pet?” I shuddered at the thought of another Mrs. O’Leary, a black German Shepherd mix that we thankfully gave to the librarian that visits Annabeth, Daedalus. She would constantly jump on us when least expected and give us heart attacks when she started barking for no expected reason. I loved her, but she was too much to handle.

“Well… let’s say, hypothetically, I went online to find some info on trafficking of aquatic animals and ended up on a trafficking website. Then, _hypothetically_ , I accidentally clicked on a link that sent me straight to a chat, which promoted a trade of sorts. Then, the guy in the chat asked me to buy off this kid from him for a certain amount of money, or else he would track my IP down and raid our apartment. So, yeah, hypothetically, how would you feel about me buying a kid for 30 thousand dollars?” All of this Percy did while having his arms in a shrugged position and a serious look on his face.

My jaw was literally hanging on the floor by the time he was finished, and that was just from the price. 30 thousand dollars spent on a human. Hold on, wait one fucking moment.

“You said you bought a human? When does he get here?” 

Percy laughed nervously for a moment while looking down at the floor. 

“He is kind of in the guest room?” It took all of my willpower right then and there not to throttle Percy with my cramp infested hands to death. Of all the damned things he did, this shit had to be the worst. I huffed and proceeded to walk towards the aforementioned room.

“Wait, Jason, let him sleep! He just got off a flight and looks really tired and hungry! Please, just let him...” Percy’s voice faltered when he saw how I looked, all pissed off and cranky presumably and I was off once again. 

I arrived at the guest door fuming and jiggled the handle a bit. It wasn’t locked and I barreled in, ready to see the “mistake” that Percy ordered, _hypothetically._

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You are such a mistake.”

**Nico’s P.O.V**

It was _Him_ , even though I don’t know why he was here. He had his same smile, the one masking his true form of malevolence and impurity. His blonde hair framed his face and threatened to overshadow his terrifying eyes, displaying all sorts of excruciating forms of torture.

“C’mon, my little mistake. Let’s see how much you are worth when I am done with you.” He grabbed my hair and pulled me down onto a soft surface, grimy and full of dirt. The area felt vaguely familiar, like a repressed memory unfolding before my eyes. The only thing really in focus though was Him.

He went down to my level and lowly muttered, “You will never escape me, you hear? Even when you think I am not there, I am and when you cannot hear me, I can hear you. I will be here forever. Now, open up.”

His hand came up with a quick motion, then swiftly crashing down, slowly, towards my open face as I could only struggle and…

 _BOOM!_ I opened my eyes as I frantically thrashed around, trying to get a grip on what was actually reality. The soft surface I had just imagined was just the bed my new master gave to me. Ahh, just a nightmare, good.

I racked my brain to remember what happened before I fell asleep in this nice comfy bed. I was sold from Octavian to a new master in California and he seemed really nice. He was also really pretty and different from the last of my owners. But I could have sworn that the boom noise came from somewhere…

“Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are?” 

My eyes shot up at the unfamiliar voice, searching in the darkish room for a indicator to my supposed second master. Near the door, the silhouette of a tall man towered over the area, making me feel like I really was going to get punished. His face became more prominent in the dim lighting of the hallway, and I could…

No. Please god no. Not another one.

The new master was blonde. Another blonde master possibly meant he was just like the last 3, more prone to punishment and pain. I stiffened and bowed my head considerably, not making eye contact.

“H-hello, sir, my n-name is Nico and-”

“Look Nico,’ he cut my voice off firmly, already showing off his skills at domination. ‘I understand that Percy ‘bought’ you off of some sort of website that is definitely not Amazon, and you look about 16 years old, so I think I am going to have to give you up to child protection services.”

My mind couldn’t understand what he was saying fast enough. Give me up? As in, take me somewhere else that was not here? Why? I wasn’t good enough? I was a disgrace? Did he already know I was fucked up and didn’t need another burden weighing down his conscience? 

I started to tear up, already having thought up this possibility but hoping it would not come to this. I didn’t deserve all this anyway. The generosity that Percy offered. All of the thoughts of hope and being loved came crashing down. It was all a ruse so that his roommate could give me this final “Fuck you.” What a load of horseshit. Giving me a name so that I felt like he gave a damn about me. I slowly turned my head up and accepted my disheartening fate. Tears flowed down my face in a stream of sorrow, unable to stop.

The blonde man squinted at me, and his face went from annoyed to one that wanted to help. 

“Hey, are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you cry. I really, really didn’t. It’s just that Percy is an imbecile and always is messing up and we just lost 3,000 dollars and Lou-Ellen is such a bitch making me work double and this rain is fucking with my head and please stop crying.” At this last remark he walked up to the bed and wrapped his arms around my torso. I felt his touch and tried to turn away, but he was too strong and kept at it. I had never had this happen to me before, but I had seen other people do it to each other.

It felt good.

Good was a word I did not associate with things often, but the action was warm, it made me feel fuzzy inside, and I wanted it to continue, which it did. The blonde man rubbed circles around my back and whispered ‘it’s okay’ in my ear. I loved it because it was new to me, all fresh in my mind making me giddy. I stopped crying and he pulled away, making me whimper wanting more, something that never happens with a master.

The blonde man suddenly had a very concentrated face, contemplating something. I waited in anticipation, hoping he would change his mind about me going, because even if I had been here for a few hours only, I wanted to stay. I had never wanted anything more in my life.

Finally, he spoke. “You want to stay here?”

I nodded frantically.

He gave me a small smile and chuckled, the sound reverberating from his chest. “Well, I’ll let you stay only if you promise me two things. One, you will eat at every meal, because I felt you when I was hugging you. You are as skinny as a stick and need to eat more. Two, you will go to school. If you have been kept away from real life by other people, you have never learned much. To get going out there, you need smarts. I’ll tell you more in the morning. Goodnight.” He got off the bed, kissed my forehead, and walked out the door.

I gaped at him as he closed the door. He kept me? He really wanted to help me?

YES! YES! YES! My enthusiasm was over the roof now, drowning out all the horrid thoughts that were sure to come in the morning. Right now, I want to live in the moment and think of nothing else. I got back under my bed and fell asleep once more.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Jason’s P.O.V**

I walked out the door, thinking to myself. _What have I done? Will I regret this? What was my reasoning behind this insane idea?_ I guess the reason was that he looked so… desperate. He was just a kid, with possibly no family and looking like death incarnate. I felt his spine when rubbing his back and his tears didn’t look very brand new to his face. I just want to help this boy until he is healthy enough on his feet. But, will I be enough?

Just as I entered my room, Percy ran up from behind and glared at me pensively. “So, what did you say?”

I smirked at him, enjoying what his reaction might be to my response. “So, I guess you’re gonna have to pay his rent now.” 

He leaped into the air bouncing with joy, oblivious to the fact that I was serious about the rent. But, for his sake, I might not ask him to do it anyway. I closed the door on him and went to bed, ready for the next morning to see what this new kid has about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to comment and kudo! Ask me questions too if you want (I will answer none pertaining to future story plot though).
> 
> *You did remember, _**right??!!**_ *


	3. Foundations and Findings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  __  
>  **oh fuck me...**  
>   
> 
> It has been _quite_ a while since the last update, hmm? Sure has, hasn't it.
> 
> ...
> 
> I'M SORRY ;-; HOLY FUCK THE LAST CHAPTER WAS IN FEBRUARY AND THIS CHAPTER IS IN WHAT? JULY?! THAT'S FUCKING SIX MONTHS! OH MAH GOD SHIT CHRIST ON A FUCKING POLE I'M SORRY.
> 
> Enjoy :P

**Nico’s P.O.V**

I woke up abruptly from slumber, all at once feeling an odd emotion stir inside of me. I tried to remember, but it did not come to me. I gathered my bearings and searched the perimeter of the room from under the safety of the blanket. It was the same as the night before, still very real and not full of scary blonde men (even if the recent one was nice). 

Wow. That was a weird night. The roommate of new master Percy, that blond man, hugged me. The feeling of his arms wrapped around my body was like an aphrodisiac, pushing my sorrows into a desolate closet and locking it behind. I craved more, but knew that his act of kindness must have been a tactic to get me ready for all the _fun_ we are going to have. My face instinctively scrunched up in fear.

My thoughts washed over to Master Percy. He reminded me a little of the ocean, his green eyes calm like the Atlantic and black hair windswept. Both him and his blonde friend are pretty tall, making them double the threat not even including their muscles.

I glanced over to the left and saw the alarm clock, which was resting atop the bedside table. 7:30 AM.

7:30 AM. 

FUCK.

I almost cut myself on the sharp bedpost trying to get out of the bed, fearful for my life. I was still in the pajamas Master Percy left in the room that I quickly threw on last night, a dark blue t-shirt and grey sweat pants. It didn’t matter though, because I had to make a good impression for my Masters. The latest my last Masters had ever let me out of bed was 6:30 AM only because they were too drunk to even notice me at first sleeping in.

I rushed out the room as silently as a person can, ninja style, then I crept over to the kitchen. _No one here I think, let’s just see if they ha-_

“Hello Nico! I didn’t think you would wake up this early!”

I stiffened. I felt like curling up into a ball and rolling away, but that was not going to happen. Master Percy was lounging at the kitchen table, drinking from a blue mug and eating Eggo waffles garnished with fruits and honey. The blonde master was standing up and finishing the final touches on his breakfast of what appeared to be leftover steak. He cocked his head towards me whilst wearing new thin rimmed golden glasses. It suited him, not that I would be looking into his eyes all the time. Eye contact is a no-no unless being spoken to.

“Uh, h-hi! How a-are you, Master?”

Master Percy visibly cringed and the blonde one raised a very surprised eyebrow in my direction. Master Percy got out of his chair and walked over. I was confused, thinking of what I did wrong. Master placed a hand on my shoulder once he arrived, and shook his head.

“Please, don’t call me Master. I am no one’s master, nor will I ever be. Call me Percy, and only Percy.” I became more confused. What did he mean? I thought all people wanted to be called something in that sort.

“Yes, Percy. I will try.” Percy looked over to the blonde man, and gave him a soft strained smile.

“Bro, do you see what I have to do? I have to teach this poor kid how to not call me Master. Fucking hell, what the fuck!” I cowered and cowed at the sound of his voice. Master Jason, presumably what he wants to be called, looked pitiful for a second, then turned his attention to me.

“Nico.”

“Ye-yes, Master Jason?”

“One, do not call me Master either. Just call us Jason and Percy. Two, I need to talk to you about our school situation.” School? I have never been to one before, but I guess if that is what he wants…

“Okay, Jason.” He smiled proudly at my response and I felt pride fill me, surprising myself.

“Well, I will see you two later, I got to go to class! Bye!” On the last note, Percy finished up the last of his waffle and was off in a flash, leaving me with Jason and my thoughts.

* * *

Jason sat me down and told me all about school. It felt weird sitting at the same level as a Master, since I didn’t have the authority to take a chair for myself. He insisted I grab one though, so I followed obediently.

Since I am only 16 (I didn’t know that myself), I still have two years left. However, since I haven’t been to school for the entirety of my life, I had to start somewhere. Octavian had been nice enough to give over my birth certificate and fake passport, which I needed if we ever had to flee the continent. Jason would be sending me to the nearby high school, where I would stay till I am graduated.

He said that I would be under the disguise of his cousin if the question ever came why I appeared so suddenly. My fake persona had parents and a sister, who just died in a car crash halfway across the country. Jason would be the only family I have left, so I would be staying with him until I became an adult. My full name was Nico Di Angelo, my favorite food was pomegranates (whatever that is), and I apparently loved playing video games in spare time.

All the while, I was pondering how much time would be dedicated to housework and the types of punishments I was in for. During my survey of the house, I could not detect any sorts of whips or full body suits, so they aren’t kinky. I blessed the lord, because the suits were extremely uncomfortable and the whips had been used way too many times for me to count.

“Any questions?” I looked up again to see blonde master Jason staring at me again.

“Well… you never explained what I have to do like with housework?”

“Oh, we don’t usually clean this house often. If it annoys you, I’ll make sure-”

“I’ll clean it all.” Jason stopped and looked at me slightly perplexed.

“Okay then. Any more?”

“What about my punishments?” Jason’s eyes blew up to massive proportions and started sputtering gibberish.

“Excuse me? Punishments!? What the fuck do you mean by punishments?” 

“Well, daily beatings and all the stuff. I deserve it, right?” I made sure to be as vague as possible so as not to give any ideas. Once, I gave my Master the idea of drowning sex as a punishment and it was one of the many things that scarred my life.

Jason had his head in his hands and was speaking very softly.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, why did Percy have to do this, oh fuck…” I was confused and slightly amused, but decided to keep myself in check.

“Okay, no. No punishments on my watch. No whatever sadistic shit that went on in the past to you for me.” Huh, that’s strange. No Master has ever told me no punishments before, not that I wanted them. But I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, that needed them, like I deserved them...

“But-!”

“But nothing! You will not be beaten up under any circumstances, jesus. Today, we will be buying you some new clothes. Get ready and we’ll go.”

I had never been clothes shopping because I never really needed clothes, but I was excited nonetheless.

* * *

**NEVER. AGAIN.**

The only thing that made the experience bearable was the food we got in between shopping, it was really good. I never knew about hamburgers and fries, but they were super tasty.

The shopping, however, was terrifying. All these people looking at my body with judging glares, knowing that I was less than trash and that I didn’t deserve most of the clothes I got. Jason brought me to many stores to choose out my attire and I focused mostly on black and grey colored t-shirts and jeans. It was very tiring, but I knew I needed to cook dinner for them now. 

“I’m beat. Why don’t we go take a shower and then Percy will order some Chinese food.” 

“Yeah, make the person who didn’t go shopping with you guys order food. Heathens.” Percy was hunched over a table doing his homework, looking partly disgruntled at being called to do something. “I’ll just order the usual plus some extra and pop in a movie.”

Well, at least now I don’t have to cook. These people don’t seem to like taking advantage of me, or is that their bluff right now? Make me comfortable and then catch me off guard? Wait, what did Master Blondie say?

“We? Take a shower right now?”

“Yes, in my opinion, you smell horrible right now.” Jason didn’t seem fazed but Nico was screaming in fear. _Fuck, not again, I’m sorry, please not again..._

I had to will myself to walk towards the bathroom where Jason was. My thoughts were racing faster than a horse on a speedtrack, I couldn’t get myself over the underlying feeling of it all. Did he like to do it slow and painful, or harsh and painful? God, would this count as a punishment, or is this my reward? How big is his dick?

“Excuse me, did you just ask how big my dick is?” 

“GAH!” I asked that out loud, fuck my life, take me away, I’m dead meat. 

“Ah, I didn’t… I was just… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m just kind of surprised that you would ask that.” Jason still had a smile on his face, not showing any emotion other than kindness.

“Well, I don’t need to know, I was just wondering why you wanted to take a shower with me…”

“Well, you and me are taking a shower together because, well, you know… I need to see. I can’t believe they would attack an innocent child like that, beating you…” During the shopping, Jason ordered me to tell him things about my past, however not in full detail. I guess he wanted some creativity of his own. His emotions were very peculiar, some of frustration and pity. 

“We’re here.” Once we entered the bathroom, Jason came over and reached out his hands. I stood still with apprehension, the feeling of someone pulling clothing over my head familiar in practice. I discarded my pants and underwear and stood in the naked.

“Oh god…” His eyes roamed in disbelief over my severely skinny body, littered with purple bruises and multiple cuts. My right side had a scar that ran all the way to the back of my spine which he turned me around to see. That was a story I omitted out of the talk, because he would never need to know about _him_. He picked me up by my underarms and placed me in the tub. He in turn stripped naked and came in after me. His body was a perfect one, with muscles bulging and taut while his tan skin was everywhere, not an expanse of white to be seen. He was… quite gifted in size, which made me shudder in fright and excitement, which in turn made me confused. Why am I excited again?

He turned on the water and gave us both a shower. I groaned at the feeling of soap in my hair and hot water, it relaxing my stiff muscles. That type of stuff hadn’t touched me since ever. The thing was, his touch was not forceful and trying to make me stay put. He actually made sure I felt comfortable and safe, like with his warm hugs. It made me value the time we spent together, even if it was just the first day.

“Master Jason…”

“ Don’t call me Master. And yes, Nico?”

“Why are you really doing this?” Jason paused, and I shuddered. I was afraid he would get into the beatings now, and I would be left alone and scared, not knowing what to do. He just sighed.

“Is there a reason to help out someone in need?”

Once the shower was over, he wrapped me in a towel and led me to my room. I sat in my room, contemplating the entire day. It was so surreal, going outside and seeing people do regular people things after being trapped inside a “cage” for my entire life. I shook my head at all these new developments and decided to go with the flow and stay cautious along the way. There, I changed into some of my new clothes and went to the dining room to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember to comment and kudo! Ask me questions too if you want (I am sorry ;-;)
> 
> Sorry it's so short, I have a lot more of it coming though.


	4. Looking For A Little Company Is All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, hope you enjoy! I have uploaded this ahead of time, next time I write out some new chapters will be when I have my big update.

**Nico's P.O.V**

Jason and I walked into the living room and lo and behold, the Chinese food was already there. White boxes filled with an assortment of meats, noodles, and rice which might all be going to go into my stomach sounded and smelled heavenly. It was as if Elysium had appeared at my front door and took me then and there.

Percy was already digging into one of the heaven boxes and shoveling some greasy noodles into his mouth with a fork. Jason looked at me and then back at the boxes, where he sauntered towards and took one for himself. He sat down at the table and began eating some garlic fried rice. My mouth watered but I knew that I had to wait until they finished so I could get the leftovers. Hopefully they wouldn’t keep it in the fridge for me to eat until later or put them in the garbage like my past masters to spite me.

“Dude, why aren’t you eating?” Percy curled his hands into a “come here” motion and invited me to come sit at the table. There went my flow. I knew this was a trick, so I decided to stick with what I knew and wait, making sure my response was clean cut and respectful.

“With all due respect, I will wait for you guys to finish.” Percy put down his fork and looked at Jason with wide eyes, making it pretty obvious he was thinking I’m gonna kill this kid.

“Come and eat here.”

“I’m okay.”

“That’s not a question. Eat up while the food is still hot.”

“Um, I don’t think…”

“Eat. NOW.” I immediately rushed over to the table and sat down, afraid of the loud voice and threatening attitude coming from him. None of the sass from my past Master was rising to my throat whenever Percy talked, it was as if I was useless against him. I reached towards a white box and grabbed a fork from the table. I slurped up some of the noodles from the box and kept quiet, even when I wanted to moan at the deliciousness. My quiet demeanor must have been annoying to Percy, because he just snapped.

“Okay man, I don’t understand you. Ever since you got here, you haven’t trusted us. We haven’t beat you, we haven’t starved you, yet you still won’t open up to us. I could have taken a risk and say no to that creepy blonde wigged motherfucker and tell him piss off if he thinks he can threaten me over a computer for some kid. But, I realized he had a kid. A person who was his slave. I bought you not to be a slave, but a person. Tell me what is up!”

“How selfish can you be, Perce! It’s ONE fucking day! Who the fuck is going to open up in a day? I talked to him today, and he barely opened up. All he said was that he was beat! That’s all!”

“Well then why shouldn’t we be able to talk to him? I bet we have treated him nicer than any of the past fucks that have taken care of him.”

“No.” They both turned their heads towards me, as if my words were the key to solving a great treasure.

“My second master spent the first two weeks of his time with me pampering me, making me feel as if I was special. His name was Will. I thought he was a ray of sunshine, a bit of light in the dark. He was a doctor, who could heal all of these people in need. He didn’t heal me of course, he destroyed me.

His methods were brutal and calculated, damaging my physical health to the point where it was almost unsalvageable. But of course the sunshine doctor could fix you right up, he was the best at it. I almost died 3 times, but he saved me. Just to kill me all over again. That’s why I didn’t trust you. I learned how to backtalk from him, too. You dumbass.” Maybe it was the adrenaline from when I took a shower, but I was feeling pretty annoyed by everyone now. And that's what got me so many beatings. I fucked up, like usual.

“Ah-! I didn’t mean any of that, I swear! I’m sorry, Master…” Percy came over and I flinched, but he just ruffled my hair, calming me slightly.

“Okay, dude. I won’t hurt you. I just wanted to know, is all. I didn’t know all the shit you went through, but it must have been horrible. I am so sorry. I’ll wait, and stop calling me Master. Please.” He paused and stared at me. I nodded, very apprehensive for the fact that he might do something. We finished up all the food and I was ready to just die right then and there, stomach full and filled with the thought of no beatings.

Percy and Jason walked over to the television and plucked a movie from their disc collection. They put it into Percy’s laptop and started trying to find the file to play it .

“Nico, come over here and get comfy. This movie is a good one, one of the best.”

“Percy, that movie you speak so dearly about is Finding Nemo.”

“And? It’s amazing!” Jason rolled his eyes and looked at me as if I understood what he was thinking.

I walked to the couch and plopped myself into a corner, making sure my Masters had enough room to sit. I watched them fiddle around for a few minutes, before they whooped with joy at their success. They sat down to the left of me and did something I was unfamiliar with. Percy sort of put his head on Jason’s chest while Jason sat at an angle and held Percy’s body. They looked really comfortable and I was jealous that I wasn’t able to enjoy that comfort. They began the movie and I stayed silent.

Halfway through the film at the part with the creepy braces girl, Percy looked to the right and saw me staring half at the movie and half at him. I quickly averted my eyes towards the screen full of fish and stayed silent, hoping that he wouldn’t kick me out for being rude.

I heard some whispering and some rustling next to me, but I kept my eyes straight ahead. Next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in Percy’s strong arms, stiff as a board and not knowing why he was doing this.

“Nico, relax.” Percy hoisted me up by my underarms so that I was even more on his chest, and plopped his head on top of mine. Jason, who had gotten up, moved towards the side I was previously on and sat down. I observed this all while wondering how queer my new Masters were. I nuzzled my head into Percy’s chest for a couple of minutes. Percy holding me to his warm chest and Jason rubbing my leg made me drowsy. I couldn’t help but feel I didn’t deserve it, but I would endure...

* * *

The next few weeks went by without me doing much socializing with people other than Percy and Jason. While they were both gone, all I did was stay in my room and get myself up to pace with the world around me. All the news about death, destruction, war. But there was some good stuff. Articles written about heroes and innovators, someone who doesn’t give a crap what others think and shows them what they need. I thought it was beautiful, because I never thought of myself as a thing that can give much need. It was a great thought, however. The internet felt like a safe haven to me. I was browsing the internet when suddenly…

“NICO!” I jolted and turned my chair, wondering who would scream my name this loud.

“Oh, hey Percy. How are you?” My eyes were strangely blurred, but that was probably from looking at the screen for 5 hours. 

“Don’t give me that shit. All I need is that pretty little mouth of yours.” I froze when my eyes adjusted and I saw what he looked like. His clothes were all but on his body while his cock hanged freely, swaying slightly with his body movements. His green eyes raged with a fierceness made my blood run colder than a recently frozen river and his hands were wrung around a wet towel, which would explain his partially wet hair. The background went faded in and out, possibly from my imagination and overall terror.

He walked over and I couldn’t move, paralyzed with fear and regretting ever trusting him. His hands looked so big and menacing, ready to smack the shit out of my face. He tied my hands behind my back and I was pulled forwards. He grabbed a fistful of hair and brought me towards his enlarged member. He pushed me down onto the said member and cried out, screaming insults and curses. He fucked my face with a ferocity and was as loud as can be. It was useless to scream, as he had told me the walls were soundproof. He pulled out and pushed my body onto the bed, my back landing hard on the soft surface.

“That was what you wanted all those weeks ago, right? Just for me and Jason to punish you, you slut? Here is your wish come true.” How did he…

I didn’t have time to think as he pushed into my asshole and made me scream. I wailed as he didn’t stop his rhythm, tearing my insides apart. His green eyes slowly turned blue, ice cold blue, and his hair changed. Black hair morphed into blond hair. His grin turned into a familiar sneer. I gasped and shrieked, horrified at the monstrosity in front of me. The pain coursing through my body made his face seem even more sinister, my vision fading to white. It wasn’t Jason, nor Will, nor Octavian. It was…

“You are such a mistake.”

“WAKE UP!”

“AH!” I started flailing and threw up my hands in front of me, to protect myself from anything that tried to rape me. 

“Ow, you little fucker!” Percy was holding his cheek, green eyes filled with concern. Definitely not holding me down and making me submit to his cock. “I couldn’t hear you until I ran in to see if you wanted some breakfast. You got some moves there. I almost had to hold you down.”

I suppressed my little whimper at the sound of getting held down and looked behind him, not connecting my eyes with his. He sighed and held me close, which I tried to wiggle out of without much success. Even after eating there for a month I was super skinny, but at least I had went to the doctor’s. Seeing someone in a white coat trying to give me a shot sent me into a crazy trauma flashback and I almost kicked the doctor’s pearly whites down his throat. Percy let go and held his hands up.

“Sorry, I forgot. So, what was your dream about? You seem to have had it almost four times now.” The other thing I like to do besides the internet was sleep, which had some minor setbacks. For the past few weeks, some nights I would wake up screaming with the same dream in mind. It always started out different, but ended the same. The face would morph into the same person from before, him. I didn’t know why it kept coming back, but it scared me half to death.

“I think I’m good now, thank you Master.” 

“Stop with the Master! It’s been one month, goddamn it! So, you’re good? I smell something.”

“What?”

“Bullshit. Why won’t you tell me? It hasn’t been one day anymore, Neeks.” I hated that nickname, but since Master Percy gave it to me, I had to deal with it.

“It’s just…”

“What? I can handle it.”

“I dreamt that you raped me.” Half the truth is better than no truth at all. But Percy’s face downgraded from a concerned look to one of utter shock and alarm. 

“H-huh? I raped y-you? I wouldn’t, oh god no! No! I-! Why would you think that? That's terrible! I shouldn’t…” He saw his hand close to my lap and threw it into the air quickly, making me laugh with sadness.

“It’s fine, you’re a good Master. Most Masters would laugh and ask me if their dick felt good in my ass.”

“It’s happened before? The nightmares?” Shit, I let my mouth slip.

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s waste no time. Jason is out working for his start-up today and I have school off until Monday. We are going to go visit my friend Annabeth.”

“Annabeth? Who’s that? Your mistress?”

“HA! Wise Girl? The only thing she can fuck is an architecture book, not me. I am 50% gay, 50% cock loving motherfucker.

“So gay.”

Percy rolled his eyes and held his hand out dramatically. “Yes, man. Why do you think me and Jason live together?”

“Because you both have no place to stay and help each other out with rent?”

“Wise ass motherfucker, I see…” 

“Ah, I’m sorry! Please!” I cowered and held my head down, still shocked from my very vivid dream.

“Oh shit, man! Dude, sorry, I’ll try and stop now. Let’s go.” Percy put his hands in his pockets and walked off, turning his back on me. Even if he raped me in my dream, he had one nice ass. I wonder what his dick looks like…

“What you say, Neeks?”

“NOTHING!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there you guys! Remember to leave a kudos and whatnot.


	5. New People and New Foods

Percy took such a long time to get ready. I spent another twenty minutes staring at the longsword on the wall before hearing something come out from Percy’s room. I got up and brushed some dust off of my clothes before going to the door. Percy emerged from his room, his hair freshly gelled and his clothes looking nice. He wore a blue long-sleeve that had the logo “Swim, Eat. Swim, Sleep. Swim, Swim Faster” plastered on the back. His black jeans made his lower half look even more slim, and a nice wrist watch that looked pretty expensive.

“Ready, Nico?” 

“Yes, Master.” Percy rolled his eyes and walked out towards the door, while I followed behind diligently. We walked down a hallway before appearing at a nondescript door that had two name placards next to it. One read:

__**ANNABETH CHASE  
** **PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECT  
** **PLEASE KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING**

The other one read, in a blinding neon green:

__

Rachel Elizabeth Dare  
__Artist and Activist  
_ _“Fuck the police, coming straight from the underground.”__

“Who is Rachel?” 

“Oh, she’s Annie’s roommate, very energetic and full of colors. Literally. She always seems to have some sort of paint color stuck on her. Ought to be at a rally right about now, so that’s why i want you to meet Annabeth first. Rachel can be a little… how do I say it? Feisty.”

“So, this is her apartment? How should I address her?” Percy looked at me with a funny look.

“Call her anything besides Wise Girl, that’s my thing. Oh, and not “Friend of Master” or something that gives off that you used to be a slave, okay? Let’s go.” Percy knocked on the door and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“YO WISE GIRL OPEN UP!”

The door burst open and a beautiful girl came out. She had long flowing blonde hair and stormy grey eyes that seemed to mystify me. In one hand were blueprints addled with drawings and sketches, while the other held a Jimmy Dean Delights Breakfast Bowl. I only knew the brand because one of the cabinets in Percy’s apartment was filled with them.

“Fucking hell, Perce! Can’t you remember for one minute that I’m designing a building? Once I finish breakfast, I’m gonna break your bones and give them to Mrs. O’Leary to snack on! Who’s that behind you?” Annabeth directed her death gaze towards me and I had flashbacks to all the people who abused me. I went behind Percy a little so as to not be in the spotlight.

“This is Nico. He’s staying with us because his family just died a month ago and he had no other relatives besides Jason.”

“Him and Jason are cousins? Oh, gods, I’m sorry about being on edge, it’s just that I have a deadline due in five days. Some people don’t seem to be helping though, do they?” 

“Hey, I’m just here so that we can catch up! We haven’t talked in forever! The last I saw you, it was four months ago at the beginning of December! Not even Christmas…”

“I’m sorry, but I am getting big bucks for doing this! But you’re not going to let up, are you?” Percy shook his head no and Annabeth sighed. “Ah, well, come in. I only have to double check about the material breakout, then I will feel slightly at ease.”

Annabeth led us both into her living room, which looked sort of like Percy’s. The place was much cleaner and had a slight lemon zest tang in the air.

“Go on, sit on the couch. Make yourself comfortable, Nico.” I eyed her for a split second before slowly lowering myself onto the couch next to Percy, making sure I didn’t get it too dirty with my trashiness.

“So, let me speak to Nico first, Percy. I’m sure you haven’t changed one single bit.” Percy’s deadpanned Annabeth and placed a hand under his chin.

“Haha, funny Annabeth. I will have you know-”

“I don’t care. So Nico, you’ve been here for one month. If you don’t mind, what happened to your family?”

“Car crash.” I had to give vague answers or else she would know I am lying.

“I see. Is Jason really your cousin?” Fucking what? How did she figure that out so quickly?

“Yes, but I only found out because child services found him. I didn’t have any other family besides him.”

“Then why wouldn’t he tell me? I could have been there to support you through such a great time of help, even if you don’t know me.” Percy decided to intervene right there.

“Maybe because he remembered that you had that project you kept rambling about to me.”  
“Yeah, I suppose. Well, what do you like to eat? You look starved.” She emphasized the word starved as if she could tell I had been starved before. 

“W-well, I do like pomegranates.”

“Pomegranates? I don’t have any at the moment. I know, let’s go out and get some sushi! I know this great place nearby, just off the freeway.”

“Annie, you know I don’t enjoy seafood, I can’t stand eating fish!”

“Fine, we’ll go get something else. How about some Korean barbeque?”

“Sure. Let’s go, Neeks.” I got up and immediately fell back onto the couch.

“My foot fell asleep.” I winced in pain at the pins and needles slowly crawling down my leg.

“Walk it off, Nico. We’ll talk more when we get to the restaurant. I’ll drive.” Annabeth threw on a jacket seemingly from nowhere and grabbed some keys off her kitchen counter. I shook my head and hobbled off towards the door.

 

* * *

We entered the restaurant and the smell of meat frying hit me full force. I was almost suffocated by the delicious aroma when Percy pulled me by the arm to my seat. Our waitress came over and looked at Annabeth with a small smirk.

“Hey Annabeth, how are you?”

“Shut it, Tanaka, we just want to eat lunch.”

“All you can eat, I presume? That twig over there looks like he needs it.” The woman named Tanaka looked over at me with a pitiful look, as if I was just a pull in from the streets.

“Yes, and three waters.”

“Do you want anything, Percy-boo?” Tanaka fluttered her eyelids attractively and simpered, but when you have had dick for pretty much your entire life, it doesn’t attract you.

“No, Drew. I told you, I’m gay.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t fuck you any better than a man can. Or are you the one taking this little skinny guy? Hey, you.” She looked straight at me, her dark brown eyes flashing dangerously against the low light setting. I sunk lower into my chair but her gaze followed my movement.

“Make sure to tell me the next time I see you how Percy’s dick is. I just want to, thanks.” Percy rolled his eyes and began to order the first batch of food. I noticed he made sure not to order any fish, which makes sense given his major and love of sea life. Drew took down everything and just as she finished, she turned towards me and winked. I wanted to die right there with the thought that I was being fun of by that woman. Annabeth noticed me and gave me a regretful look.

“I’m sorry, Nico. I was hoping she wasn’t on duty but I guess not. Anyway, this place has the best food, you will love it. So, back to our conversation. How are you enjoying yourself with Seaweed Brain and Jason?” By Percy’s disgruntled look I can tell he was Seaweed Brain, and I decided to show him a little respect.

“Well, M-! I mean, Percy and Jason are very kind and thoughtful, always making sure I am well taken care of and that I still have family to look up to.”

“Gods, that’s great. I wish I had that when my family stopped caring. My mom died when I was to young to remember and my dad was always at work, so I never knew what it was like growing up with an elder who was there to watch over me with unconditional love.” Me either. I could feel that same instinct of empathy pop up, the heart wrenching feeling when you can’t know what a mother and father would feel like. 

“It-it’s been hard over the month. But I’ve been improving.”

“Well, at least we can both relate to something. I cannot tell you how glad I was when I found my friend on the street. All I could feel was hope.” Hope?

Was that the feeling I felt the morning I first arrived? So foreign and alien to my being? I don’t think I had ever felt hope at all before meeting Percy and Jason, but I couldn’t empathise with hope. It didn’t just happen to me on a whim.

“Hope for what?”

“Well, I can just say that I was hoping I wouldn’t die, now that I had someone to help me.”

No one had ever helped me when I was imprisoned with all these monsters who abused me. No one had come to my aid when I was getting flogged, starved, raped. I felt a strong emotion flow through me, jealousy.

“I see.” Annabeth raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything about my tone of voice.

“So, I noticed something as well. Where is your phone?” A phone? I never received such a luxury because it was too useful for someone like me to own. My Masters always told me I would break it, or call the police, or something that would cost them money. It always made them mad to ask and then I would get punished severely.

“Um, I’ve never had one…”

“Never?! What about when you went to school? Surely your parents must have given you something.”

“Um, well, you see…” Percy luckily saw the waiters coming and slapped me on the back.

Oh the food is here! Great!” In front of me and Percy was placed sizzling hot platters of pork, beef, brisket, and chicken, laying on beds of onion and drizzled with spicy sauce. To the right I received a bowl of white rice, and some weird red lettuce. On the left a salad bowl and some transparent noodles were just there, making everything come together nicely. Not like I cared how it looked though. They all looked amazing, delectable and tasty. Much better than some sunflower seeds. I proceeded to chow down as much as I could chew, making sure I looked presentable while doing it. 

During the silence of eating, I pondered what Annabeth meant when she said “hope”. What was hope to me? I never had the time to think about ever getting out of a Master’s grip into a better one, I just had to realize that they would be pretty much the same. I never hoped for anything because my situation had nothing to hope for at all. No way to get out without being tracked and put somewhere equally bad. No way to scream and kick when they crippled me so young. My only hopes came from which punishments they decided to use on me for certain days. My life has now been turned upside down and inside out. No beatings, no punishments (albeit for the time I accidentally didn’t eat for an entire day and Percy flipped out. I thought he would force feed me food down a tube, which sounded pretty sadistic. He just made me eat more food for dinner and clean the dishes, which in my opinion wasn’t even a punishment.), nada. I could feel the word hope festering inside of me, growing bigger and bigger. Hope turned into questions. What will I be doing with Jason today? Will Percy stay home today? I hope he does. I would never use that word on a daily basis for my past owners for them to stay home. I hoped they stayed AWAY from home, so that I could relax. It was very confusing to me.

“Um, Nico? You okay there?” I looked at Annabeth, who was the one talking, then at Percy, who was obliviously enjoying some of the chicken.

“You were just shoveling food into your mouth and eating without saying a word, didn’t even look like you were breathing for a couple minutes there.”

“Sorry, just… I really love this food.” Annabeth shrugged and grinned. 

“It’s alright, I guess. I’ll take you somewhere else next time.”

“N-next time?” 

“Of course, man! You and I have lots to talk about. Seaweed Brain and I go way back, as with Jason No-Grace. We can catch up and stuff while they are gone, until your school starts. When are you going back?”

“Possibly next week, or month, or year.”

“Sheesh, Jason and Percy can’t do anything for shit, huh.”

“I can hear you two talk shit about me, my mouth is the only thing full! I’ll sign him up for next year.”

“No, he needs to go back to education now! I can even mentor him for free, no charge. It doesn’t matter, unless you need more time to recuperate?”

“No, I’ll be okay.”

“Great, we have a scholar over here! You will be great with me as a mentor, understand me?”

“Yes…” I sunk lower, Percy following example as Annabeth went onto a long talk about which schools I should attend and if I would enjoy any extra credits.

“I’m just telling you Percy, Nico just seems like the type of person who would take up AP physics…

* * *

We arrived back at her apartment full of food and smelling fantastic, only to find it occupied by a bush of red hair.

Wait, what?

“Percy?! I haven’t seen you in forever! Oh god, how are you?”

“Great, Rachel! How are you?”

“I’m great, but did you hear about Hazel? She’s dating Frank now!”

“Frank? Holy cow! How long do you think it’s gonna last this time?” 

“I want them to marry already, they are so cute!”

“Really? I want to see their non-existent babies already!

“Eeeeh!”

“Eeeeh!”

“SHUT UP! Goddamn it, how do you guys go without telling someone a little bit of gossip? Or saying “Eeeh”?” Annabeth looked pissed off, taking the term lightly.

“Fuck off Annabeth, you slag. It’s been a few months, and I need to tell everything! So, as I was saying- Oh, who is this?”

“Oh Rachel, this is Nico. Nico, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.”

“Hello Nico. Put ‘er there.” I could hear a slight British accent coming from her lips, and it suited her. I shook her hand and she looked me up and down, eyeing everything with a polite smile.

“Here, Nico! Come with me! I’m gonna make you shine with color! You have too much black clothes on.” Percy jumped on me immediately, but Rachel was too quick. She pulled me to the side and held me to her breast.

“Rachel, I will not have you attack Nico with color! The last time you did it, I got paint stuck on the insides of my jeans!”

“So?”

“It was red paint! Gimme him!” Rachel squealed and pulled me into a room, presumably hers. Percy groaned and banged on the door.

“Nooo, Nico! R.I.P Nico! We will miss you, buddy.” I was scared for my life. Her room was a jungle and a half. Most of it was covered with papers and different shades of colors, from sunflower yellow to magenta to lavender to mint green to baby blue and more. Her bed was littered with paint splotches and the desk next to it looked like paint splotches incarnate. Her window was painted with a black smiley face, obscuring some of the room to shady black. I turned back to look at her and grew tinier in size and bigger in terror. Her happy face was now less like the window and more like a teacher about to beat a student with a ruler. She adorned a serious face, devoid of any glee. The words that came out of her mouth next shocked me.

“I know you used to be a sex slave.”


	6. Revealing Reflections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7nzml-zZ9M
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VkrUG3OrPc
> 
> My, my, my. It's been _quite_ a while since I've updated this fanfiction. This was supposed to be two chapter's, each dividing at the POV switches, then I saw how short the first one was. **NO**. So, now you get this abomination of a chapter. I hit writer's block about 3 months ago, and finally was able to get past it with the sweet, sweet help of no school. So, this will probably be one of the last things I write this year, but worry naught! I have two more things to release before the clock chimes 2017!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Percy P.O.V**

What a mess my life has become. First, I received an enslaved teenager for a measly price of 30,000 dollars. Then, I get in trouble with Jason for being a prick to Nico the first fucking day he is with us. Finally, I get accused of raping Nico in his PTSD dream, making me fearful I might be causing any more trauma to the kid. I needed someone to vent to, after one month of being with him so that I might get some help before he goes to school. The only person I thought of was Annabeth.

“Hey, Wise Girl.” She was making me a special tea, the one that I only drink that tells her I have some pretty life changing news and that it’s gonna be a long talk. She finishes my cup and brings a tray of soft cookies over.

“Here is your tea, Percy.” She hands me my cup and drops in some sea salt cream, my favorite. She grabs her cup of Earl Grey and sits down.

“Okay, spill. Who the fuck is that child in there?”

“Well, we said he was Jason’s cousin, remember?”

“And you think I’m dumb? I know Jason doesn’t have any male cousins, dimwit. He told me exclusively when he came over to chat a year ago.” Oh, crap. There went that lie. 

“Well, you see Annie, Nico is in a special type of situation.”

“I didn’t expect you to be the one who brings in homeless kids, Percy. Even so when you can’t afford to buy decent enough clothing.”

“Annabeth, listen to me.” She shut her mouth immediately, she knew that when I said her real name that meant it was deep talk.

“I didn’t have a choice to get Nico or anything. He was forced upon me. I had no idea it would actually happen.”

“Forced upon? Did someone take you at gunpoint and throw him into your arms?” She snorted into her Earl Grey and continued to sip.

“No, I had to pay 30 grand for his ass because he used to be a sex slave.” Annabeth’s eyes went wide and she blew her entire mouthful of Early Grey onto my grey shirt and face. I never knew pain could be so instantaneous.

“FUCKING HELL, DID YOU PUT FUCKING JALAPEÑOS IN YOUR DRINK? MY EYES ARE DYING! I’M SURE I HAVE A FUCKING BURN MARK BECAUSE OF YOUR FIRE SPIT ATTACK, GODDAMNIT!” Annabeth kept coughing and I kept yelling, no one helping me in my time of need.

“F-fucking sex slave? Are we getting pranked right now? Is this one of those shitty ass social experiments, Percy?” 

“No, I’m serious. Ahh, milk!” I had found the fridge and started drowning my face in the cold milk, alleviating the pain.

“Oh my fucking god, Percy. How are you now even more mentally fucked up? You bought this kid for your personal pleasure? Off what website? Fucking Amazon?!”

“I didn’t buy him! This dude came over from the East Coast and told me to take Nico. He said if I didn’t he would shoot me and my entire house up.”

“How did you even meet this -ack!- dude anyway?”

“I was doing a project on animal trafficking and I stumbled upon a human trafficking website. It had a picture of dolphins in cages, I thought it would be useful!” Annabeth had finally stopped her fit and was looking at me with murder eyes.

“Okay, if it was because you were looking for your shitty education, you’re in the clear with me for that. But, why do you still have him? Give him up to the police!”

“Excuse me? What did you fucking say? This kid has been through abuse and multiple “Masters” who tortured him. Hell, he didn’t even have the name “Nico” when I first met him! He was just called “bitch”! You think the police will be able to find a home where they will understand him better than someone like me? No!”

“Percy! There are fucking professionals out there who can save him! It will get better if you give him to the right people!”

“What do you know about the future? He might be placed inside of a fucking mental hospital because of all of it and not let out because people scare him! I want him to have a normal life!

“What the fuck is normal about two college age kids going and taking care of a sixteen year old victim? Will he get a mother’s love? A dad’s advice? No! It’s only wise to bring him to a place where he will no longer have to run! You’re not mature enough yet!” That made me snap, after the entire month of just seeing Nico react to different things, eat all these new foods, and watch new movies with him.

“What the FUCK do you know about mature?! You ran away from home at 10 years old! You had no family for a year, no mom or dad, just Thalia! Is it right to call me immature because I want him to enjoy his life without the possibility of being beaten? Is it selfish? No, I want to protect him! I went through abuse too and you know it! Gabe was a fucking prick and I wish he died faster than he did! He did unimaginable things to me that will pale in comparison to what Nico went through!

I know kids who have gone to orphanages. I heard their stories because I was the social one who knew kids all throughout school. They had tales of adults that looked like a mom and a dad taking their shit, breaking their hearts, destroying their relationships with others all for the sake of money. It will not always be the mother and father who take care of the children, and you have proven that yourself! If anyone is more immature, it’s YOU for wanting Nico to go somewhere where he doesn’t know what will happen, when he knows that he will find peace here! I want to see him go to school and get an education all because I care for him. I want to protect him, like my mother did for me against Gabe. I will be his mother. So don’t fucking dare tell me to take him away.” I left my impassioned speech there, hanging on the hope that Annabeth wouldn’t call the police and have Nico shoved into the back, never to be seen by them again.

I noticed Annabeth hanging her head, tears dripping down her face. I went up to her and hugged her. She laughed weakly.

“Why is your life so fucking messed up, Percy?”

I smiled sadly. “I'll never know.”

“Also, fuck your speech, it was good. I’m sure I’m gonna fucking regret this, but I’ll help you out, Seaweed Brain.” Percy cried into her hair and proceeded towards the bathroom. There, they washed up and sat back down in the living room. Annabeth stared at the last of her Earl Grey.

“Shit, Percy. How the fuck…”

“I know, right? I don’t even know how I’m going to pay off all of the money.”

“There is Jason’s dad…”

“Fuck. that. He already hated the idea of keeping Nico, now another favor? I’m going to be his bottom bitch for the rest of my life.”

“This is as if you already aren’t.” I punched Annabeth in the arm and she laughed. She looked towards Rachel’s room in concern.

“I wonder when she’ll be done making him pretty. I’m happy she can’t hear me, because of her soundproof walls. She got them a month after you guys did so she could play her own music freely.”

“Maybe another hour at least, we can finally-” The door barreled open and out came Nico and Rachel. Rachel was all happy smiles and glitter, but Nico was another story. He looked like he had just been through hell, his face pale and jeans colored red. 

“Goddamnit Rach, I told you! No coloring!” Rachel pouted at me and threw her hands towards Nico.

“C’mon man! Look at him! He’s so much better now.”

“Better? Rachel, he looks like he went down a rollercoaster five times.” Annabeth had her arms crossed and her glare intensified.

“Nico, come here. We’ll go and get you some new pants, don’t worry.” Nico slowly shuffled towards me, probably from the fast drying paint on his body.

“I’ll see you guys next time, it was great seeing you again Annabeth. We’ll talk more about Nico’s education next week.”

“Don’t you forget it, Seaweed Brain!”

“Oh, also, I’m sorry Rach that we didn’t get to talk, but we will next time!”

“Don’t worry Percy! Nico and I had a fun time!” Nico ran out the door and I followed him, checking to make sure he didn’t trip. The door closed and I caught up to Nico.

“Hey Nico, you good, buddy?”

“Master, Miss Dare is a very scary person.”

“Yeah, she sure is. Well, let’s go back to the suite and we will wash you off.”

“Okay, Master.” Percy decidedly ignored the master part and walked down the hallway.

“Okay, Nico, let’s go inside. I’m sure that we can now… Who are you?”

I opened the door and walked down the hall to find a stranger sitting at the table conversing with Jason. His face was filled with serious concern. He noticed me standing and smiled widely.

“Hello there, Percy! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Luke Castellan, and I am here to talk with you about your take-in, Nico Di Angelo.

* * *

**Nico’s P.O.V**

_”I know you are a sex slave.”_

_”E-excuse me?” My mind reeled in fright at her verbal vocation, how easily she uttered the statement of truth._

_You heard me. I know you are one. You know why?” I shook my head no out of habit._

_”I’ve seen you before. You're photo was on a slave website that I was protesting for activists rights.” My mind stopped working for one moment. I had pictures plastered all over the internet about myself?_

_”M-Miss Dare, please tell me how you found this website? How did you e-even find out about slaves like m-me?” My voice became even more shaky, closer to tears than I had been in months._

_Her smile turned grim, as if her mouth had tasted an unpleasant piece of fruit or meat. “Well, isn't it obvious? I'm the former daughter of a slave trafficker.”_

“Nico!” I snapped out of my memories to listen to Percy calling my name.

“Yes, Ma- P-Percy?”

“This lawyer over here would like to ask you a few questions, then he will be on his way.”

Lawyer? Oh shit, did they find out about me? I don't want to go to an orphanage, not yet!

“O-okay.”

I walked through the foyer to see a… fuck, a blond man standing there. He had a face eerily similar to Him, yet it was marred by a scar. Probably was mugged in the past. His two piece suit fit snugly on his body, but it wasn't time to worship his looks when he could possibly take me away at any moment.

“Nico Di Angelo, let’s go to your room and I will ask you some questions.”

“Why can't you ask them here?” Jason interjected rather rudely. I was surprised a bit at the way he defended me because I had never seen something like that.

“Well, some of the things I might ask him will be personal, and I will keep his confidentiality safe. So please, let’s proceed to your room.” I shakily nodded and walked head down to my room, Percy and Jason muttering angrily at each other. Mr. Castellan followed quickly behind, making an effort to walk as smoothly as possible.

Once we arrived at my room and entered, he shut the door and sighed. I didn't know what to expect, since I had been locked up with Rachel only 10 minutes before and told some crazy shit I wanted to unhear.

“So, Nico, now that we are alone, I want to talk about your family. Who was your mother?” My mother? I couldn't even remember her face, let alone her name. I decided to use the fake one Jason gave me.

“M-Maria Di Angelo, Mr. Castellan.” He chuckled lowly.

“Please call me Luke. And Maria, how nice. I'm sorry for your loss. What about your father?”

“H-Hades Di Angelo.”

“Like the god?”

“Yes.” What god? 

“That's pretty interesting, did he have that as an alias or just his real name?”

“I-I think he legally changed it.”

“Okay. What do you remember about them?”

“T-they were nice and tool care of me. My mom was a great singer and my dad was a good father. They-they…” Tears threatened to spill from my face.

“It’s alright, Nico. I can wait. It must be hard losing your parents so suddenly.” It wasn't that. It was never that. I was crying because I was so shitty and nobody wanted me in the first place that I have to lie about parents that took care of me when they probably threw me out to child traffickers for money. Crying for that reason was pathetic.

“Y-yeah.” Luke sympathetically held his hands out in front of himself, away from me as if I was a pile of garbage overfilled.

“Well, I just came here because I had no… record of you ever existing. It’s like you just appeared out of nowhere.” 

“W-well, I did and I have been here, my papers can prove that.”

“Okay then. One more question. Do you recognize this man?” Luke paused and brought up a photograph of a shady blond man.

Octavian.

Nico almost felt bile run up his esophagus, but chewed it back down. “Never seen him before. Why do you ask?” Luke ran a hand through his hair.

“Well, between you and me, I’m not a lawyer. I’m a private detective trying to find this here man and bring him into custody. He’s been charged with many crimes such as first degree murder, rape, and torture of a minor. I was sure I had a lead with you.” Me?

“W-why me, Sir?”

“Well, Nico, some birdie told me that apparently you were a victim of Mr. Augur. Is this true?” Keep calm, keep calm…

“I’ve never seen nor heard of any Mr. Augur in my life.” I was surprised by how strong my voice came out to be. Luke sighed exasperated.

“Well, thank for your time, Mr. di Angelo. I am truly sorry for your parents and sister and that they will forever be here in our souls. And remember, I’m only a lawyer.”

“Yes, sir.” Luke stretched his arms and slapped his knees. The sound of it made me flinch, but luckily he didn’t notice. He got up languidly and walked towards the door.

“And Nico.”

“Y-yes?”

“If you have any information on Mr. Augur, any at all, give me a call. I left my business card on your desk.”

“I-I will.” With that, Luke closed the door. 

Immediately Nico ran to the door and locked it shut, making sure no one could come in. He turned around and surveyed his environment, a room with a bed and a desk and a computer. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Tears formed at the ends of my eyes, but they wouldn’t spill. The hot food inside of my stomach had turned cold and solid like a rock at the bottom of a lake. Harsh, laborious breaths became frantic and much more common as time passed, a panic attack arising. 

These were pretty ordinary back then in my old slavery, but the first time in this house. I wasn’t supposed to feel like this here, not when life was better. And who was this little birdie? Did Octavian have people watching out for me trying to take me at a moment’s notice? My new master love me too much to snitch me out...

_Are you sure? What makes you think Master Jason and Percy love you? Maybe they want to throw you inside of a soundproof room like Master Octavian did?_

Stop, stop, STOP! It would not happen, the tears would not drip, the blood would not stop flowing, I cannot!

Cannot, is that what I am? Cannot do this, cannot pull my weight, cannot please my Masters? 

Stop!

 _Stop what, you useless sack of shit? I know you’re tired of your useless trivial issues, so just end_ it! End these thoughts!

“Nico?” I was pulled out of my lucid imagination to be wrenched back into the mundane world of normalcy. “Want to get some burgers tonight?”

In my best voice, I whispered “No tomatoes please.” Then passed out.

* * *

I gasped, my lungs filling with air. I was on the floor, tear tracks trickling down my face. I groggily pulled myself up, wondering what time it was. 6:03. Three minutes late for dinner. I slapped myself a few times and rubbed my eyes on the comforter before going outside.

The entire apartment smelled of meat and french fries. My stomach grumbled loudly, which it shouldn’t have since I had a giant meal for lunch. I dragged myself over to the kitchen to find Percy and Jason digging into some food.

“Nico, awesome! I got you your double burger! There’s also fries and a strawberry milkshake.” I loved all the food they gave me, but I felt like I was getting too fat. Before I could open my mouth, Jason cut through.

“I swear to the gods, if you say you are fat, I will feed you more food. Last time we weighed you, you were 90 pounds and 5’7. That’s not good! Now eat.” I was reminded of the first night and sat obediently.

“Thank you, Master.”

“Nico…”

“Sorry, “Jason”. Force of habit.” Jason smiled widely and took a bite of his burger, his scar on his lip stretching.

“As long as you acknowledge it, I’m good. Keep working to stop yourself.”

“Yeah Nico, it’s alright! I was thinking for movie night we could watch some Shark Tales…”

“Percy, stop yourself at that shitty movie. I really want to watch Captain America: Civil War!”

“Who would want to watch a bunch of cranky ass superheroes whine and bitch about logistics? I want to watch quality animation.” Jason snorted at the comment, eliciting Percy’s rage.

“Was that a snort?”

“Maybe.”

“Fuck you, Shark Tale.”

“Captain America. Nico?” All this time I was swiveling my head back and forth like a turnstop. My eyes widened and I stood stock still.

“Yes, J-Jason?”

“Which movie do you think would be alright?” I didn’t know what to choose. I could feel something stir inside me, and I blurted out randomly.

“Captain America?” Jason fist bumped the air while Percy glumly looked at his food. I immediately went bright red and stared down, not wanting to make eye contact with Percy and feel even worse than I did before.

“I’m sorry, P-Percy.” He looked up and shook his head wildly. 

“Don’t worry, man! It’s alright, I understand! I’m not mad, I mean, I like superhero movies.” Jason got up and kissed Percy on the cheek.

“Thanks, dude. I’ll go set it up.” Percy sighed happily before snapping back to attention and cleaning everything up.

“So, Master Percy, how long have you and Jason been together?” Percy stopped what he was doing and cocked his head slightly in my direction, confused.

“Me and Jason aren't dating.” My eyes bulged out and I hid my head in my arms.

“Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to assume, Master.”

“Don't call me Master. And, for your information, me and Jason are just, how do I put this, friends with benefits.”

“What are friends with benefits?” Percy shifted uncomfortably closer towards the door, nearer to the couch.

“Well, you see, I give Jason pleasurable services and help with rent and he helps with my tuition and gives me food. It’s a two-way street.”

“Okay, I get that. Now, what are friends?”

You could hear a pin drop in the next room from the silence given. Percy stopped for a moment to brush some hair out of his face before continuing.

“Have you never had a friend, someone you could talk to personally? Someone you could trust?” I had to wrack my memories to find someone who fit that description. Suddenly, I found one, from a long time ago.

“I did have this one person, his name was Leo. He was my cellmate from my first Master. I remember he made me laugh and smile. I trusted him a lot, even though I was only about 6.”

“One day I broke something of my Master’s, and he asked everyone who did it. Leo had seen what I had done, and snitched me out. I don’t blame him for doing it, since if no one confessed, everyone received a lashing. But the trust that had been made from the two years I was there… It shattered and crumbled before my eyes.”

“Master went up to me and slid a knife across my cheek, flat side caressing me. Suddenly, blood was everywhere. I screamed, and Leo fell to the floor, throat slit and gurgling in his blood. He drowned in his blood 10 minutes later.” Percy’s face was listening intently, face blanched with horror and shock.

“Then, my Master said one thing that changed my life forever. He told me he never liked snitches and if I snitched him or anyone, that's what would happen. So, I never did.”

“From your definition of friend, Leo was the only one I really had. I could talk to him and him to me. But the trust, I lost that a long time ago.” I didn't realize it, but my hands had slowly been hugging myself, gripping my arms tightly as if a hug could solve my past.

“N-Nico…”

“It’s pretty tame, I know. I'm sure that you've heard worse, or been told many stories much more horrific, but…”

My words became muffled as Percy wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer. I began to panic, thinking he was trying to hurt me when I felt a familiar rubbing motion on my back. I purred and fell even further into the gesture.

“I’m so sorry, Nico. Let’s go watch that movie.”

The hands on my back started to leave before I made a slight whimpering sound. I didn't want them to go away, because if they did the comfort would too. Percy nuzzled his face into my hair and guided me towards the couch.

“Hey, Perce, do you want to make some popcorn? I’d love to eat some.” Jason was bending over trying to get the movie working, ass in the air.

Giggling slightly, Percy let me down on the couch to cuddle some blankets before having a little fun with Jason. Sneaking up quietly, he approached the unsuspecting blonde and pounced. One hand came down hard to slap Jason on the ass while Percy’s hips shifted behind to grind. Jason gasped in an unmanly fashion.

“Looks like I'll be taking this ass tonight, little boy.” Jason smirked before turning around and pinning Percy to the wall.

“Look here, Seaweed Brain, I'm going to be the only one fucking here tonight. You may be older but I have the bigger dick.”

“By half an inch. And does it really matter when we are already hung as fuck?

“Yes, it does, dude. Assertion of dominance.”

“I'll fuck you one day.” Jason kissed Percy on the cheek before giving a toothy grin.

“Maybe.” Percy beamed before attaching his lips to Jason’s, starting a make out war while I stayed forgotten, observing in the background.

I thought I would be more scared when I saw how Master Percy treated Jason, but it actually turned me on more. The way the playfulness could still be sensed in his actions and the willingness of Jason were all new. Their conversation was something I envied as well. How they spoke to each other, poking fun at the tiniest of details and making each other feel loved. Jealousy coursed through my veins, but there was something else…

Longing.

Percy was the first to notice me, hands traveling up Jason’s shirt and clawing at his back. Lust filled eyes of green pried open to see me on the couch, sitting there like a duck.

I tried to hide under the blanket, but Percy took matters into his own hands. He pushed Jason away and bum-rushed to the kitchen, skipping a bit on the way.

“Going to make some popcorn, go snuggle with Nico!” Jason turned to see my ugly self trying to blend in with the black blanket, his swollen lips and big hickey very visible.

“Oh, sorry Nico. Got a bit carried away.” I nodded and scooted over more so there would be some space for Jason. Said blonde rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch, feet barely touching me.

“Do you like me, Nico?” I stopped and thought for a moment before giving a truthful answer.

“Yeah, you are much more nicer than my past Masters.”

“No, not like that.” What did he mean then?

“Well then, how do you want me to answer?”

“Just say yes or no.” His stare that accompanied the statement made me even more apprehensive.

“Y-yes.”

“Okay then.” Before it could escalate any further, Percy brought out a popcorn popper with freshly popped corn.

“Okay, my dudes, let’s start this shit!” Jason grabbed the remote and began the movie while Percy shoved some popcorn in his face.

Before the movie started, I reflected on my day. A lot of stuff happened, some good and some bad. The top three things sticking out were Luke, Rachel, and Jason’s little question.

Who was the birdie?

How many slaves did she own like me?

Why ask if I liked him?

I stuck my hand in the popcorn, slightly caressing Percy’s arm. He turned towards me with a smile and I smiled back, before eating a piece of popcorn.

Delicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos and comment how shit I am for making you wait FOUR FUCKING MONTHS.
> 
> Jesus Christ.
> 
> Or comment how good I am, just to help me self esteem ;-;. I would still appreciate fanart, but that's me. Oh, before I forget, how would people like if I also did uploads to Fanfiction.net? Would they appreciate my sporatic updates as well?


	7. Birthday Bash With a Side of Self-Defense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am back, and no, this is not dead!
> 
> So, I had real big doubt's about this chapter. But it's out now, so enjoy! I'm so sorry about the lateness, but now it's summer and I can get back to chilling and writing stories on the low. Next update for sure will be a short, original story. Talk to you all later!

**Nico’s P.O.V**

“Happy birthday, Jason!” A stream of confetti blasted out of a tiny party cannon onto the blonde’s head. The day was July 1st, and Percy was throwing a huge party for the one and only Jason Grace. He chuckled amused.

“Thank you, Percy. And Nico, you can stop eyeing the cake from 30 feet away and dig in. It’s ice cream.” I kicked at the floor and looked up with a slight smile. The room was lit up brightly by fluorescent bulbs and birthday candles, which contrasted the gloomy freak thunder clouds outside. It was weird weather, even for California’s standard.

“It’s fine, Jason. I'll wait.”

“Y’know, Nico, it’s been a week since you last called me Master. I like how you are making some progress.” My face turned red at the praise.

“It’s nothing much. Master Percy doesn't mind it though.” Before I could say anymore, Percy interjected.

“Um, excuse me, I don’t know when I said that but I told you that I do not like being called Master as well.” I wanted to not take him seriously with the pointy party hat on his head, but flashbacks of past owners rushed through my mind.

“Uh, I'm sorry, P-Percy.” He grinned maliciously and crept behind Jason sneakily.

“You’re an old fuck now! 20 and counting!” With that, he pushed Jason on the back, effectively smashing his face into a slice of cake. Blue eyes surrounded by cake shot towards Percy, unrelenting for revenge. Percy yelped and took off running.

With Jason chased Percy around the apartment, I was left alone with the cake and my thoughts. I still had no idea what to say about if I liked Jason or not, even if the question was two months ago. It had stayed glued to my mind along with the other questions.

I haven't seen Rachel since the last visit to their apartment complex, and Luke visited once about a month after the first time. His only questions were about Octavian, and they were getting more personal by the second. He even guessed correctly about the soundproof room.

It’s only been a quarter of the year that I entered Percy and Jason’s life, but it feels like it’s been years. They are extremely nice and take care of me. They even had their doctor friend, Apollo, check up on me since I hated going to hospitals. I didn't even know what would happen after this summer break.

“Get back here, you little shit!” I sighed and turned around, looking at Percy duck his head behind the couch as Jason readied up to throw down. 

“I’m sorry, sir! Please don’t hurt me!” Jason rolled his eyes at Percy’s mocking tone and grinned an evil smile as he superman leaped across the couch right onto his back. The older boy screamed and they rolled around, trying to one up each other and give noogies. I watched on with a thoughtful eye, wondering how the two of them could be so immature. 

“Nico, want to give me some cake to shove in Percy’s face?” I shook my head and laughed when a slice of cake appeared 30 seconds later in Percy’s face. The only indicator of how it happened there was Jason’s hand, now covered in frosting.

“My face is numb with cold now, Jason!” Percy grabbed some napkins and smeared his face with them, getting rid of the evidence.

“Now you know how I feel. Do you want a slice now, Nico?” What? My eyes warily shot from the cake back to Jason’s hand, which held the cake. 

“Yes, please.” Jason handed me a slice with a fork, which I immediately placed a piece of the cake in my mouth. It was really good, the creaminess of the ice cream going well with the soft layer of the cake. 

“So, Nico, it’s July now. We have to start thinking about school now.” I stopped my devouring of the delicious morsel to give them a glance. I hadn’t given high school much a thought, since my entire life before the entire incident of Percy and Jason revolved around me being a fuck toy.

“U-um, well, it sounds intriguing. I mean, I got taught some school things by Master Will, so I’m not stupid. I really like science, if that is something to like.” I shrunk back into myself, trying not to sound dumb around Percy, who loved marine biology.

“Oh, awesome! I’m sure that we can get you enrolled in your grade level then. We know this really good high school called Half Blood High a few miles away, Annabeth can take you. She is still pissed we didn’t put you into school last year.” Percy kept talking about different subjects that I could take and some of the food options they offered for reduced, but Jason scratched his head.

“What do you know about school, Nico? Like, the curriculum, the students?” Nico paused and set down his cake gently.

“Well, it’s, like, a place where you learn, right? And, it’s helpful? Also, other people go to school?” This simple question concerned Jason.

“Wait, Nico, how far into studies did you go? And how will we create a transcript for you?”

I gulped a bit before answering. “W-well, Octavian decided to cut my studying short because he said “bitches don’t need to be smart when getting beat up”, but Will liked me being educated because it wasn’t fun for him to abuse someone who was “challenged”, in his opinion. He had me learn some biology and read books, sometimes he e-even applied punishments to study sessions. One moment we were learning about trigonometry, the next I’m on my b-ba…!” The sound of lightning rumbled outside, spiraling the situation out of my control.

Oh no. _Please_ no.

I couldn’t breathe, my throat constricting with the thoughts of his belt hitting my chest. My mind blanked and rewinded to a much more hellish experience...

_”What did I tell you? What is the parabola formula?”_

_”I-I don’t remember!” My head hurt, blood soaking through the gauze applied with great care to my head._

_”Useless!” Crack. Another smack to the head. It was only a designer accesory, yet my worst nightmare. The belt’s black leather left a deep imprint in my gauze. Will grimaced and stepped closer, his dick closing into my mouth._

_”I need you to remember, alright? Fucking remember!” His cock pushing itself into my mouth, closing off my throat, head becoming lighter and vision becoming darker..._

“Neeks!” I snapped back to reality, face streaming with tears and mouth agaped from screaming in terror. My cake lay untouched, the cold pit in my stomach curling in pain. I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t want to be punished, please no…

“Jesus Christ, Nico, it’s alright. I’m here, Percy’s here…” Percy’s arms engulfed me and I froze, wanting to scream but not mustering the courage. After a second, I began sighing a breath of relief I didn’t know I was holding. It didn’t make sense, how I was so accustomed to Percy of all people even though I still called him Master. Must be all of the hugs.

Even back then, Will didn’t hug me when I cried, not that I knew what a hug was back then. A hand rubbed my back and I soothed down, becoming still with occasional hiccups. 

Jason raced back from the kitchen (which I didn’t even notice) to hand me a glass of water after he picked me up and plopped me onto the couch. I felt terrible for ruining his birthday.

“I’m sorry for ruining y-your birthday, Jason.” Jason smiled and ran a hand through my hair, twirling a bit with his fingers.

“It’s alright, Nico. I’ll be right back. You can eat some more cake. Percy, come with me.” Jason grabbed Percy by the arm and pulled him away into the kitchen. I sighed into my arms, wondering what I did wrong this time.

* * *

**Third Person P.O.V**

Jason looked worried, frown lines plastered upon his face. “Percy, what should we do now?” Percy put a hand to his face and thought seriously.

“ I guess we should get him online courses?  
Jason face-palmed and sighed.

“We can't. I have seen that creepy guy with the scar come often enough to know that he is not here to talk to Nico about his “family”. I fear he has ulterior motives.” Percy rolled his eyes.

“Stop sounding like a dramatic fuck. Would high school would be better for him, huh? The bullies would eat him alive. Trust me, I went to school as the popular kid in New York, and I tried to help out. It just doesn't sometimes.”

“We are on the complete opposite side of the country in an extremely different area. What if this time, it works? Have you thought about that?” Percy groaned and slapped his forehead.

“Who cares about hypotheticals? I think he’s safer at home.”

“School.”

“Home.”

“School.”

“Home.”

“Percy, I will punch your dick if you say home one more goddamn time.” Percy smirked, knowing what he would do. 

“Well, you know what they say, home is - ASSHOLE!” A hand shot out from Jason’s body to connect with Percy’s crotch, but the swimmer was much too quick.

“We are taking him to school and that’s final.” Percy looked furious, ready to argue with another retort. “Unless you want to tell Annabeth you plan to give him online lessons?”

Percy immediately stiffened and shook his head. This action seemed to be on instinct, as his eyes suddenly widened and his posture slumped.

“Fine. You win.” Jason smirked and licked his lips.

“I haven't won until I get to fuck your ass again.” Percy turned a dark shade of red and slapped Jason on the ass, the former laughing in response.

“Fucking pervert. We better get back to Nico before he eats all the cake.”

Jason and Percy exited the kitchen and entered the living room to find Nico sitting in the same exact spot, arms in the same exact position and confetti strewn across the table as when they had left, except…

“Nico, how much cake did you eat?!”

Half of the cake had been demolished, professionally swept away as if someone took the other slices and devoured them with their hands, then proceeded to clean that side of the board. Nico sat quietly, not saying a word.

“Um, well, you said that I could eat some more cake, so I did.” Jason stood agape while in the meantime, Percy was dying of laughter.

“Ha, holy shit! Holy fucking shit! You actually ate half the cake! You might have a better stomach than me, Nico!” All Nico could muster was a slight smile, looking towards Jason with expectancy. 

His pale skin had gone from being deathly to a glowing white, and his black hair was no longer greasy and long, but now in a stylish undercut (Which had taken forever. Nico really did not like scissors.). His eyes didn't immediately spark fear when he stared for a long while. His party hat sat atop his head, sticking out in the black masses of hair. He looked… cute.

_Stop those thoughts. He is still fragile. You slipped up last time._ The blonde shook his head and cracked a forced smile, looking at his delicious cake without noticing Percy frowning at him.

“Yeah, hella crazy. Can’t wait to try some.”

* * *

**Nico’s P.O.V**

“Nico, come on! We are going to check out the high school.” 

A few days had passed since Jason’s birthday and they had already told me to come with them to see this high school. It was the 6th of July and Percy wanted to take us all out while Jason was off of his startup. 

I sat in the back while Percy and Jason relaxed up front, telling me they knew this awesome burger place up ahead that sold godly milkshakes. It was more than enough incentive to get out of the house.

Another incentive to get out of the house and look around was to get away from Mr.Luke Castellan. He was appearing even more often than naught at the apartment and asking even more personal questions.

“What do you remember of your family?” Uh, they were nice and took care of me. And you asked me this already.

“What does it feel like being alone?” It feels terrible? How else should it feel?

“Where the fuck is Octavian, kid!?” I-I uh… don’t know?

It was a never ending loop, the same questions over and over again week after week. I was getting a bit irked at the repetitiveness of it all when my thoughts got yanked back to reality.

“We are here!” I gasped at the reality of it all. It was a large outdoor school, complete with two baseball fields and an outdoor Greek themed patio area near the front. The parking lot we entered had large shiny panels lining the tops of the parking lots, providing shade. The main office shone, its brightly built entrance sitting atop an idyllic garden, as if the entrance to the god’s domain. It reminded me of… Octavian’s mansion. 

“How does it look? I wanted to give you a tour, but we don’t have to, since they are having summer school right now.” I shook my head, closing my eyes the entire time so as not to freak out. _Stay calm, stay calm…_

I knew not to freak out, but it was so hard. It was always so hard. Everything reminded me of my old Masters. The kitchen reminded me of my early mornings with Him, the bathroom and its medical supplies reminded me of Will, and the computer in the room I stayed in was the exact same one that Octavian used at his house. _I don’t know how to stop it!_

“-eeks? Earth to Nico?” I jolted back to the present as Percy waved a hand in front of my face, trying to get my to pay attention.

“Dude, are you alright? You went all “woosh” on me. Did you have a-”

“Yeah, I did. But I’m fine now, Mas-I mean, Percy.” Percy cocked his head, surprised at the candid response that came from me.

“Oh, really? Whatever you say, dude.” I rolled my eyes and sat back, not in the mood for speaking. Even though I would respond immediately to my Master if need be.

“Hey, Nico. Instead of food, would you like to come with me and Perce to a training class that we do? It’s only 20 minutes away and the food there is infinitely better.” I slumped in my seat, sad I wouldn’t be able to taste the delicious milkshakes, but decided between saying yes or no. 

Milkshakes, or please Jason?

Sure, why not.

“Okay.”

Soon, they had arrived in front of a neighborhood that looked too much like the houses in an episode of Mr. Rogers. That was the only way I was able to describe it, seeing as that was one of the only tv shows I was able to glimpse at whilst imprisoned with Him. The house they were in front of was a faded yellow, contrasted heavily with gray arches in the driveway and fresh green potted plant on the porch. A dreamcatcher made of various gemstones hung in the porch, clanging meticulously with a matching set of wind chimes.

“Jason, why didn’t you tell me? I would have brought my play sword if you told me!” Percy was giddy, jumping in his shoes and patting Jason on the shoulder. Jason stopped the car to smile at Percy.

“Okay, you giggly fuck, we’re here. Frank will be inside practicing, and Hazel is probably going to be home in an hour to cook, she’s out with her horses.”

“I swear to you, Jason, her horse Arion is a fucking pervert. He kept neighing at me and whipping his cock around.”

“Or maybe you're high and need to stop looking at whipping horse cocks.” Both of the boys got out of the car, with me staying inside. I hadn’t been told to get out of the car yet, after all. Wait, Jason had said something about me and the car.

“You can leave the car whenever you want, Nico. Just make sure it isn’t moving. If it’s a stranger’s car and moving, ditch it. Quick.” I quickly opened the door, sliding out onto the fresh pavement of the floor.

“Hey, Nico!” My head swiveled and saw Master Percy and Jason both walking up the steps to the house. I rushed to catch up with them, silent as they knocked on the door.

“Frank!” The door opened and out stepped a tall, broad shouldered Chinese man about 20 years old. Frank was wearing jeans and an old, worn T-shirt and holding a wooden play sword in his hand. He smiled at Percy and Jason, then turned towards me. That’s when I noticed he had a face that did not exactly match his physique. He had rounded features and a slightly squashed nose, completely different from his body. 

“Um, Perce, who is this? I didn’t know you had a… cousin?” Percy shook his head in fake laughter, trying to hide his nervousness.

“No Frank, Nico is, um, well he is kind of like a cousin, moreso a family friend, more Jason’s cousin, yeah…” Jason dipped his head down, muttering and shaking his head in disapproval. If Frank had noticed anything about Percy’s speech pattern, he didn’t notice.

“Oh, okay then. Come in, Hazel came home early. She’s made her shrimp gumbo.” Percy and Jason both pushed past Frank in their attempt to reach the gumbo first, eager in their movements like children. I cocked my head and warily followed inside, looking around the nice house.

It was big, and smelled decadent, some sort of smell reaching my nose. It smelled heavenly, immediately making my mouth ache in want. I followed the smell blindly till I found myself in a kitchen, where Percy and Jason were pestering a woman for something.

“Let me taste just a bit!”

“Shut up, Percy, you don’t like her gumbo as much as me! Hazel, c’mon, remember when I got you that necklace for Christmas? This can at least be compensation.” The woman, still unseen by me, laughed loudly.

“Jason, thank you for the necklace, but lay a hand on this gumbo and you’ll find yourself out on the porch nursing a bruise on that fat lip of yours.” Percy tried to hold back a laugh while Jason sat down on a chair, defeated. I decided to backtrack to leave them some space, but my heel scraped the door, creating a loud sound that jolted everyone in the room. The woman turned and I found myself blushing.

She was a short lady, only a few inches shorter than me and holding a large wooden spoon. She had dark, flawless skin and golden eyes that shined in the sunlight from the window. Her face was full and happy, well fed and loved. On her ring finger held a shiny ring that was made of a precious metal I couldn’t identify, but it was pretty nonetheless. She was pretty, and looked nice, and was the complete opposite of me.

“Hello there, what’s your name? I’m Hazel, Jason’s coworker.” Nico eyed her hand warily, glancing up once before taking it, not wanting to offend the mesmerizing woman.

“M-my name is Nico, ma’am.” Hazel’s eyes widened and she smiled brightly.

“Don’t call me ma’am, I’m only 19 years old! Call me that in 30 years and I’ll still tell you the same thing, that’s hella rude. How old are you, 17? No need for ma’am, dude. And you look like you haven’t eaten in week, dear gods!” Nico was shocked to hear her switch between a slight Southern accent and Californian slang, not sure which one to believe. Jason tapped him on the shoulder and he faced him.

“Nico, this is Hazel. She works in my company for the business and money transactions so that nothing gets misplaced. She is a genius with the stock market and knows how to get someone to a certain price. Her husband, Frank, is our night guard. He’s one of the best.” Nico nodded and drifted towards the pot, looking inside to see some vegetables, sausage, and a soupy mixture.

“Um, what is this… stuff?” Hazel laughed and grabbed a bowl, filling it with rice and the mystery meal. She placed it in front of Nico and had to hold back Jason from tearing the food from the counter.

“Jason, he’s literal skin and bones! Give him the food.” Before Jason could pout, Nico was sticking a forkful of gumbo and rice into his mouth. He cried out in surprise at the intensity of the spices, the thickness of the gumbo, and the mixing of the rice before he rushed to shovel more inside. He moaned into the bowl, acting as if he hadn’t eaten anything all day, which he hadn’t considering he didn’t enjoy the notion of eating first thing in the morning. Went against his morning ritual for the past 12 years or so.

“He sure does like it.”

“He loves anything.” Percy nodded his head slowly and turned towards Hazel, questions running through his mind. “Hazel, do you want to practice some sword fighting after we eat?” 

“Oh sure! I haven’t done that in ages! You still up for that challenge of horseback, one on one?” Percy nodded excitedly.

“Hell yeah, and then we can go and do some swimming up on that lake near the ranch, that water over there is beautiful! Is there any way too that-!” A hand clamped over Percy’s mouth and Jason piped up, serious.

“Yes, yes. Both of you girls can do your sword fighting after we eat some of that good ass gumbo.” Hazel rolled her golden eyes and spooned a big bowl just for Jason.

“You're lucky you're my boss, or else I would kick you to the curb.” Jason pouted, making my stomach turn. He really was a handsome man, while I was an ugly toy ready to be thrown out.

“Thank you, Hazel.” Percy and Jason dug into their bowls, groaning at the taste. While they savored the food, Hazel turned back towards me, judging me with her mesmerizing eyes. They were the type to put you in a trance, make you sleepy and lull you into a comfort. I shifted warily, uncertain of all this undivided attention.

“So, Nico, you’re a family friend?” I shook my head, too afraid to answer in fear of making a fool out of myself.

“Oh, okay, so are you a relative? I never knew the guys had a male cousin before!”

“W-well, yeah, I'm Jason’s only one. He-he had to take me in when my ma- I mean, my family died in a car crash.” Hazel stopped washing dishes and did an unexpected thing to me.

She hugged me.

It was just like Jason’s, but she was smaller and much gentler, almost like a heating blanket made of silk. I felt trapped. Scared. Unknown person holding me made me squirm in discomfort, which Hazel noticed right away. She immediately detached herself.

“Sorry, I am so sorry! I just… I really want to give my condolences.” Condolences?

“Th-thank you?” She nodded, not noticing the questioning tone. Both of the boys finished their bowls just as this seemed to transpire. They ran back to Hazel, full and gleeful.

“Hazel! Let’s go practice now!” Hazel nodded her head.

“I'll go get the gear.” Percy stopped to turn to me as Jason followed Hazel to help out.

“Want to come play with us? It’ll be good for you to learn how to fight for yourself.” I didn’t really know what to say, so I shrugged and the ocean eyed man grinned.

“Awesome! Let’s go!” He took my hand and pulled me along outside to play. I whimpered at his touch, not wanting to be tossed around like a doll again, but Percy couldn’t hear me. I guess this was for my own good, trying to learn how to fight.

I was always weak. I never knew how to defend for myself, or throw a punch. If I ever did have any fighting experience, it would be when I pound my fists on the backs of my Master’s to let me go, only to get severely fucked up. It always ended horribly.

We arrived at a clearing, filled with green grass and a patio area, perfect for a party. I wonder what hors d'oeuvres they would give out while I'm getting my ass handed to me.

“Nico, come over here, please?” I nodded and ran towards Jason, who was at the middle of the clearing. He had a smile on his face and a long padded sword in his hand. 

“Okay, all I want you to do is duck. Got it?” I nodded, unsure of how this would help me in fighting. He swung the long sword at me and I ducked, screaming in the process. Before I could scream at him in protest, he did it again. I found myself grunting instead of screaming after 30 swings of the sword.

“Good, Nico. You are now grounded. Let’s start off with some basic punches.” Jason and Percy, who had been off to the side, then moved to either side of me and began showing me different forms of fighting on a punching bag. Percy’s was an elegant dance, sort of like washing over you like watery tides till the other got tired and then he struck with a ferocity of punches. Jason’s was a bunch of lightning quick reflexes and kicks, jumping through the air and gliding right to another’s weak spot. Both were incredible, but didn’t seem to fit me. Hazel, who had been sipping some lemonade in a glass nearby, got up and cracked her knuckles. When she moved, I gasped.

She slowly moved on the ground, creeping and using her lower body for support. She low-sweeped and hit hard like a boxer, making up her height with incredible prose and tenacity. Her style was a sort of patient, imminent style that instead of being elegant or speedy, what came to mind was form and careful consideration. A natural process. It felt like death.

“So, Nico, which one did you like better?” Jason, Percy, and Hazel were all panting hard, which wasn’t surprising considering their workout in the hot sun.

“Hazel’s. I like her form the best.” The girl in question fist bumped the air. Both Jason and Percy groaned.

“Hazel, that means you get to teach Nico every Monday from now on.” She nodded and turned towards me.

“You got the best teacher, don’t worry.”

Huh? I was still confused.

“Teacher? Is this why you guys brought me here?” Jason and Percy shared a look and snickered, which I sent a mild glare towards. Hazel looked at her phone, eyes widening.

“Oh, it’s 6 o’clock! Do you guys want to get some food?” All three boys nodded and left the clearing to set upon some food.

* * *

“Tell me you didn’t like it.”

“I liked it, Master!”

“Nico…”

“Sorry! Percy, it was fun.” It really was fun. I had never had seen such an array of strengths used so differently. Not to mention Hazel, probably the best girl he had met thus far. She was so sisterly and caring, without a doubt.

“Hope you had fun, it wasn’t fun lying to her and paying her $20 a session.” Jason nodded, half asleep in his seat from the cool AC blowing in his face. I chuckled, leaning against the hot window.

“But Nico…” I nodded, wanting to hear what Percy said. “I really do enjoy you here. I thought I would be at least a bit irked, but now that it has been almost 6 months, you are one of the most influential people to come into my life. I can say you make me happy.” 

I nodded, words not coming out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure how to respond to it, so I just said the first thing that came to mind.

“You make me at least three times more happy, Percy.” Suddenly, the car stopped in the middle of the road.

“You called me Percy! You finally called me Percy, yes!” The blaring sounds of car horns and angry voices made Jason wake up and made me panic.

“Start the car, Percy!”

“Jackson, I swear to motherfucking Zeus, drive the goddamn car so we can go home!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't get to flesh out Frank as much as I'd have liked, but Hazel is good in my opinion. Might make some edits here and there, pick out some things. Remember to comment and review, I am still here!


	8. Deliberate Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for being so late on the update, but I have not been feeling this story for quite some time. I have been sitting on this chapter for a month and still don't like how the tone went. I do have a direction for this story and this is in the right direction, but I'm not sure how the progression it will affect my readership. I want you guys to enjoy my works, but I have another story coming soon that's been in the works for 6 months and it's a gift story and that's been taking me so long. I love your guys enthusiastic responses to past stories, so I'll try to pump it out this year. I'll make sure of it.
> 
> I've also been super busy with senior year of school, getting my fun on with a total of 7 field trips my final semester, 1 of them being a plane trip! Filling out college apps and trying to major in biomedical engineering, but it's whatever.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story and watch out for new stories from me. Happy New Year!

I sat at my desk, dutifully completing worksheets Annabeth happily decided to print out for me so I wouldn’t be behind during high school when my door opened. My heart rate shot up, before settling once I turned and saw Jason standing there. Curiously, however, the blonde looked a bit unfocused, looking back and forth at the new shelves we installed, for books Annabeth donated to me, and my unmade bed. A flash of shame passed through me for not completing the menial task, but I tried to relax. It was hard, however, since I couldn’t even see his sky blue eyes.

“Hey, J-Jason. How are you?” I gave a small smile, knowing it usually made him cheer up, but his body language slumped down in an unhappy way. Uh oh.

“Nico, I have to tell you something. It’s very important to me.” I started to shake lightly, nodding in attention to the news Jason had to utter. He wore one of his purple shirts, one of my favorites, and black shorts.

“I… I…” I waited patiently, my eyes growing bigger as he finally inhaled, presumably to get his nerves out. He deadset his _icy_ blue eyes onto my own muddy brown and I realized why they looked so daunting. So… Him.

“I love you.”

**_PING!_ **

I shot up from my desk, a scream erupting from my throat. Was that another dream? These dreams have been getting more and more frequent, and shifted from focusing on Percy to Jason. 

But why?

As my laboured breaths shortened, I surveyed my surroundings, looking down to see my desk covered in drool and my calculus worksheets still incomplete. I groaned, the coursework Annabeth gave me too complex for me to solve on my own. I’ll have to ask Percy to ask her to give me some more tutoring.

Now that summer was almost over, Jason and Percy were prepping me for high school. It started on the 25th, only a few days from now, and I needed to be mentally ready for it all. They said as long as I laid low, and was able to pass my classes with a C, I would make it. Hours of common sense training and food breaks really helped.

I looked up from my head down position and squinted at the bright computer screen in front of me. There was something on my computer dashboard. A bright message notification sat dormant, unopened. I rubbed my eyes tiredly and clicked the notification, leading me to a basic messaging system encoded into the computer. Slightly more awake, I could barely make out the message sent my way.

_Is this Nico’s computer? This is Rachel._

The scary, mysterious red haired girl who knew my secret for no apparent reason? What the fuck, man? My fingers hovered over the keyboard, reluctant to type a message just as “Rachel” typed again.

 _I didn’t pay Jake $50 to do a search through Jason’s connected wifi devices just to find out I'm speaking to his grandma all the way in Wyoming. Are you Nico?_

I trembled with fear, my anxiety building up inside of me. Should I answer? Fearing the worst for my sanity, I shakily wrote out my simple response.

 **ummm, yeah.**

Immediately, a long response was given.

 _Thank you, holy shit! Finally! Okay, so I'm sorry for scaring you way back when. I just knew you were part of my father’s slavery ring, what with the website I searched being affiliated with his company._

I shuddered, thinking back to how I came to be, albeit it was a bit hazy. Before Him, locked in a cage and left for days, hearing sobs of younger children and bloodcurdling screams of others killing each other in insanity. Leo. It was mind-numbing. I couldn’t feel my bloodless fingers type out my response.

**Slavery ring?**

_Yes. My asshole of a father was the head honcho of it all. Kept file upon file of people who got sold, from here in California all the way to Europe. Kept it low under his rich “environmentalist” company. I'm using this hopefully secure messaging system to tell you I'm here to help._

Help? Where was she all those years ago when I needed the real help of being freed? I angrily typed out my response, fingers slamming the keyboard in a gesticulate manner.

**Help how? You could have helped a long time ago by releasing the files.**

_I had no guts, as well as no money to pay for the inevitable lawsuit my dad would have unleashed upon me. My father could have easily shut me in my room or even kill me if I jeopardized his business. I may be his daughter, but now that I’m legally an adult, I am essentially a hinderance. Which is where you come in._

How am I wrapped in this crazy deal?

 _I give the names of your past masters and release them to the police, where they get tried for their crimes. I bring you in, and we’ll crush the man that is my father, while getting revenge on your assaulters._

I pondered my options. Get revenge on my former Masters or live a life that I have always wanted to, free of the struggles and hardships I've endured?

It was too much to process right now. I needed a few weeks, maybe months to mull it over.

 **I want to help right now, because I know others are suffering, but what if I get sent to a different place because if my past slave status? Percy bought me for money too.** I had to retype my sentence multiple times because I kept putting Master Percy, which he wouldn’t like. Old habits die hard.

 _He bought you to protect you. I'm sure they’ll appeal to him somehow. Listen, think about it. Those slave children you are worried about, I'm trying to do something with my ragtag team of life changers. Talk to me later in person._ The program holding the messages suddenly disappeared from my dashboard, as if it never existed. I groaned into my hands, looking from my bed back to the bright screen.

What a headache all of this is.

* * *

“Mr. Di Angelo, I’m gonna ask you one more time, where is Octavian?” I slapped a hand softly across my face, shit-faced tired of the question asked of me for the past 2 hours. This was just repetitive now. I turned towards him with the same monotone voice and dulled expression.

“I told you, Mr. Castellan, I don’t know who Octavian is. I have never known him, and do not know how he is related to my family’s death.”

Luke gripped his fingers tightly, the whites of his knuckles showing as he screamed silently into his fist and threw a pillow at the wall. A deathly glare escaped the impatient detective, boring into me and making me incredibly uncomfortable, as if one of my old Masters were angry. The blonde man angrily pulled out his phone, glancing at the time before whipping his attention back to me.

“I have somewhere to go for other investigations. That’s all for today. Thank you for your “participation”, Mr. Di Angelo.” 

His voice came out vociferously as he turned his back to me, missing the hesitant bird being flipped in his direction. He slammed the door and a few moments later slammed the door in the living room. 

Percy rushed in from his room to mine, appearing disheveled and confused considering he just woke up. His dark hair tumbled messily on his head, sea green eyes hazy with slumber, and his clothes were rumpled and falling off his lean body a bit. The nerves had hit me hard, because seeing Percy brought upon a new set of discomfort, mostly in my nether regions. Must be leftover from my recent meeting with the “death therapist”.

“Nico, what was his deal? He’s a police officer and I can’t really turn him away, but no one should be that mad this early in the morning. My door was open and that was the only reason I heard him leave.” I shrugged my shoulders and looked off into the distance, slightly frowning.

“He wanted to know about my past Master, but I'm afraid if I do tell him, they’ll find out I’m not Jason’s family and you’ll get hurt from the outcome.” More like I’ll get hurt from the outcome. I was so close to living a normal life and suddenly Mr. Castellan and Rachel want to make it a drama show, it was so frustrating to handle.

“I’m sorry, Nico, we’re trying as hard as we can to handle this accordingly.” A sigh escaped Percy, his eyes aimlessly searching the room. “Welp, I’m awake now and Jason is still at work, do you want to play some video games?” I leaned back against my chair, trying to remember the last time I played a video game. It had been such a long ago memory, a bit of joy mixed into my painful life. A smile found its way upon my face.

“Okay, Ma-”

“Percy.” Yes. Percy.

“Okay, Percy.” The tall black haired man grinned warmly and extended his calloused hand out to me, looking at me expectantly. Was he going to push me? He grunted once and gestured his head towards his hand, and I finally realized he wanted me to grab it. I blushed red, finding myself a bit unworthy to have someone help me up.

“I’m fine.” A split second passed and Percy’s face fell, his hand wavering in the air dejectedly. My eyes shot up swiftly, not wanting to disappoint my owner with what I just did. I jumped into his arms, trying to make his smile come back.

What I didn’t expect was for Percy to scream bloody mary and fall back onto his butt, making us fall down into his lap. Our position was something I was unhappily familiar with, so I reflexively stayed put. A hand tapped me on the shoulder, and I saw the green eyed man blushing furiously, trying to get off of the floor. Stupid me.

“You have got to stop surprising me like that, Neeks.” My face felt hot, burning brighter than a hot blue flame, melting away any little sense of dignity I had before the encounter.

“S-Sorry.”

“It’s alright, let’s go play some games now.” Hurriedly, I pushed myself off the floor and walked to the bedroom, my face fiery with embarrassment. I shuffled to the couch and sat down, lifting my bare feet onto the seat to get more comfortable. Percy walked in the direction of the video game table, shuffling through a few disc boxes before procuring two controllers. He strolled towards me with controllers in hand, different from the Nintendo ones I was so used to.

“What console is this?”

“It’s called PlayStation 4. Pretty good, if you ask me.” He turned on the system and after an entire minute of waiting, a menu screen appeared with multiple games, all with different cover arts. One caught my eye, however, with its colorful personality on the cover.

“Let’s play that.”

“Rocket League? Oh hell yeah! This is, like, one of my all time favorites. And it’s split screen, let’s go!” He selected the game and we were thrown into the world of… car football?

It was an interesting experience, having to navigate the different builds of cars and thrusters and trying to make the ball in the goal. I was certain it would be a piece of cake, but the more times I flew up the side of the wall instead of hitting the football, I wanted to scream in frustration. It was a spherical object, it’s not that hard to miss!

“Nico, you okay there? We are in the lead on these noobs and you look like you’re about to pop someone’s head.”

“It’s only because I can’t hit the ball, fucking HELL!” My anger slipped my throat for a moment, eyes growing large and fingers mashing buttons crazily until I careened into the ball and smashed the god forsaken thing into the goal, effectively sealing our victory. I fist pumped the air, breathing hard at my accomplishment before I realized Percy was staring at me weirdly again.

My anxiety was beginning to act up, a wall barricading my true emotions. I curled into myself and shrunk into the couch, ashamed at my behavior. When I spoke, my voice came out small and meek.

“Sorry. I got carried away, P-Percy.” A hand brushed my leg and I jerked, slowly staring into a pair of mesmerizingly warm eyes.

“Don’t worry, dude. You got us the goal, that was fucking spectacular. You haven’t gotten that passionate while you were here before, that’s good!” I must have looked like a tomato with how red I was, brimming with pride at how I had cause Percy to like me more. Another tug in my stomach occurred, but I payed it no heed.

“Another round?”

“Of course.”

When Jason arrived home, Percy and I were giggling incessantly, leaning against one another as we tried hard not to lose as we played a different game. We had gone and lost one round to seven in Rocket League, so Jason got to see us shooting at others in a round of Battlefield One, me using the TV and Percy using his laptop.

“This motherfucker is wall-banging me!”

“Well, wall-bang him back!”

“I’m out of ammo!” I cried out in a fit of giggles as Percy got shot in the head, his body limply leaning against a wall as the camera panned to third person. Hearing what sound like a slight cough, I turned around to face Jason. He was wearing a slim business suit and looked like he just got off a 16 hour flight from another country. My head immediately lowered, trying hard not to stare at him and suppress the previous dream I had had earlier in the morning.

“Hello Jason. You look tired, do you want a massage?”

“I've told you a million times, Nico. I don’t need a massage. I'm tired, not sore.” I quickly nodded my head and moved away from my seat, leaving room for him to sit. He chuckled, his deep voice reverberating in his chest before taking the seat. Percy disconnected the system before taking the other side of the couch, effectively trapping me in the middle of their giant sandwich. I squirmed nervously, waiting for them to inoculate me with their words.

“So, you start school tomorrow. Excited?”

I wasn’t excited. The excitement of the game now a memory, my mind was shafted right back into reality. I felt clammy, exasperated, scared. It was an entirely different scenario, being surrounded by people my age who haven’t known had to deal with anything like me, the freak I was. My head spun with all the knowledge that had been drilled into my head over the past few months, Miss Levesque’s fighting blending in with my already over capacitated brain. I focused my attention to the wall of swords and released a whimper of shame, my hands shaking with fear.

“No. I’m terrified. I’m not… ”

“Terrified? I know it will be scary but you will make it, buddy.” A hand rubbed the small of my back as my hesitation gave out and glanced back into Percy’s calming green eyes, easing my nerves, the colors flowing over me with serenity. Thinking all this allowed me to breath normally. I tried to sigh, letting the inhale wash deeply into my lungs before asking something that had been on my mind for some time.

“What is school for regular people like?” Jason’s eyebrows shot into his short hair, folding his arms into his armpits and looking curiously at Nico.

“Well, it’s pretty fun but also stressful. You have tests on your subjects and the teachers can be unhelpful at times, but your classmates will try and help you. They are in the same boat as you. Some will be mean and you have to look for the diamonds in the rough. I narrowed my options by playing football and basketball in high school, and most of my friends were amazing.”

“Yeah, I did water polo, basketball, and swim, and all of those guys are really smart! They helped me ace some really hard quizzes.” Percy eyes shimmered with glee as I remembered how he talked about swimming back in New York during our introductory period. “Oh, and Nico?”

“Yes?” A smile flitted onto Percy’s face, illuminated by the light of the lamp nearby.

“Don’t call them regular people. You’re just like them now.”  
The world stopped for a split second, the impact of those words hitting me hard like a suckerpunch. I had never thought about it, but even if memories of my old life popped up now and again, I was not the same as before. I had friends, a house, food, _love_. A small tear careened down my face before I wiped it away with the back of my hand. 

My eyes wandered back to the screen, the video games already becoming more enticing. An enticing distraction to the new hardships coming at me, trying to turn my life upside down from its already inside out nature.

“I’m sorry for being rude, but can we play-”

“Another one? Hell yeah, I want to see how Nico is at it!” Jason jumped at the controller and turned back on the system, where both of us could play. Percy leaned back and my leg brushed his, causing a light heat to rush to my face. I finally felt like this was something I could get used to. Being me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment and kudos for the New Year and tell me what's your favorite video game! I am in love with Overwatch at the moment.
> 
> I'll also be editing this story immensely, so if something looks more refined, that's me brushing up the story's structure.
> 
> Also, leave me story ideas! I'm not dead, so I might het to yours soon. I'll notify you if it happens.


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